Naruto the Stewmaker
by HunterBerserkerWolf
Summary: It has been ten years since Naruto was captured. Now set free upon the world again, can he contain his murderous desires? Or Will Kumo's citizens begin to pile up as the Stewmaker goes on a bloody rampage?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So welcome to this story. I got this idea from watching the Blacklist, a recent show on NBC. It's pretty much cut from the same cloth as the Butcher of Konoha, so expect it to be gritty and having my own blend of dementedness worked in.

This first chapter is a bit pounding through things, getting the pilot out and seeing how much people like it. Back story will come in later chapters, so just pay attention please and wait.

I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 1

Jiraiya walked with a purpose, moving through the casino. He had already noticed Tsunade and he knew she had spotted him already. However, he wasn't his usual jubilant self and even Tsunade would pick up on it. The people parted, moving out of his way, because for better or for worse, Jiraiya was a big man and toned from his work as a Shinobi and from his efforts as a Sage. Given the determined look on his face, the grim look in his eyes, and the rough way that he'd shake off people's hands when they tried to pause him to ask if they could help him, people soon got the message and just generally got the hell out of his way.

Jiraiya took a seat at the table where Tsunade was at and he glanced at her before at the rest of the players. "Leave." He ordered them. He saw some of them looking to argue, but with a brief flare of killing intent, they scrambled away like they couldn't get away fast enough. Even Shizune, for all of her training under Tsunade, looked like a rabbit caught in the gaze of a large and hungry predator.

Tsunade leaned back. "What's wrong?" she asked, feeling her mind clearing up as she worked to purge the excessive amount of alcohol from her system. She was reminded, quite sharply, that Jiraiya had become the strongest of the three Sannin, no matter what Orochimaru would claim. Perhaps not the brightest, but she wouldn't want to take him on in a straight up fight either.

Jiraiya waited a moment, making sure everyone cleared before he smacked a silencing tag down onto the table. "What I'm about to tell you is in regards to a current investigation of a major crime within Konoha. With the perpetrator being involved, or believed to be involved in twenty murders within the walls of Konoha in the past year. We really had no idea that this person was doing anything to be honest. At first, people disappeared, fine, we just thought they either left Konoha or Danzo was recruiting for Root once more. Now though, now we have belief that someone has been purposely killing them." Jiraiya said as he set a folder on the table

Tsunade looked briefly aghast at the sheer number of people killed. So quickly and by a single perpetrator? It would require some skills to evade the skilled senses of the Shinobi within the walls of Konoha. Which meant someone was very good and they needed her for something. "What do you want from me? You know I'm not about to go back there." Tsunade said.

Jiraiya's eyes sharpened. "You will go back there, even if I have to drag you by your hair kicking and screaming. Sarutobi-Sensei has already ordered it of you and failure to comply will result in you being declared as a Missing Nin, with Shizune." Jiraiya jerked his head towards the brunette woman. "We have kept the latest crime scene for you to take a look at." He said.

Tsunade inhaled slowly before she watched Jiraiya. He was quite serious, it actually scared her. "Someone was obviously pushing hard for this to be brought to me. What aren't you telling me?" Tsunade asked.

Jiraiya felt the corner of his mouth twitch, a dead giveaway that he was indeed keeping something. He paused for a moment. "Three clan heirs, a clan head, and my spy network in Konoha have all been victims." Jiraiya said. "As well as the Heiress' sister." Jiraiya added and inhaled slowly. "Hinata Hyuuga, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, Shikamaru Nara, and Shikaku Nara have all been killed, all of them being unaccounted for in the past three months. Hanabi Hyuuga was less than a month ago."

Tsunade inhaled sharply. That was a lot of deaths of important people. How had Konoha not found them yet? But then she understood. Someone had cut off the head of the Nara clan, and Shikaku was renowned for being able to think dozens of paces ahead. Someone had killed a very important group.

The Hyuuga clan was likely on lockdown, refusing to risk their members to the machinations of the perpetrator. She had heard of the Haruno family, civilians, wealthy, influential, and of course she was also aware of the Uchiha massacre that left Konoha with one Uchiha.

Guess not anymore.

"And what of…what of Naruto?" she asked carefully. She knew Jiraiya's godson was something of a sore topic, especially since Jiraiya felt he abandoned the poor kid, but what was done was done.

"Safe," Jiraiya said sounding thankful for that, something she really couldn't blame him on. "He's homeschooled, a little bit of a Hell raiser, but he's kept under careful guard."

Tsunade thought for a moment and then took a drink from her saucer of sake. "And what have you found at the crime scenes?" she asked. She had done forensic work in the past, working alongside the Uchiha police force when it was around. They may not have cared for her, but she was a brilliant individual in the world of medicine and as a result, she became brilliant in several other fields as well.

Jiraiya grit his teeth and Tsunade felt a pit form in her stomach. "Nothing." He ground out slowly. "Not a hair, not a finger print, we haven't found jack or shit." He said.

Tsunade frowned a moment, realizing why then that they had preserved the latest crime scene for her. Even still, it would degrade quickly if they didn't hurry, which meant they'd have to wait for the killer to strike again. "How do you know it's the crime scene?" she asked.

Jiraiya leaned back into his chair a little bit. "The owner of the hotel mentioned seeing Hanabi with someone there. We have determined the person either used a very civilian-like disguise or a complex henge like yours." Jiraiya said.

Tsunade's hand went to her diamond almost before she nodded softly. Her transformation was not exactly something easy to perform and keep. Still, it helped narrow people down for a moment. "Then let's go." She said and stood up. She gathered what little money she had left.

"One last thing Hime," Jiraiya said. "Sarutobi-sensei will be paying you freelancer pay for this job." He told her.

Tsunade nodded simply, unable to think of something to say to that. She was getting paid however much she wanted to stop a serial killer in her Grandfather's village. It just didn't seem right.

(_Scene Break_)

It had been three days since they left and they were just getting back. Tsunade watched as people roamed in groups, desperately trying not to be the next victim. How long had it been like this? Even seasoned Genin were travelling with their teams and only their teams. "How old is he?" Tsunade asked, mentioning Naruto to Jiraiya.

"Thirteen." Jiraiya said glancing in the direction of where he knew his godson lived. How he'd like to go to him, but Jiraiya had problems of his own. The graduation had been postponed and the Chunin Exams flat out cancelled.

Tsunade nodded. "Jiraiya-sama!" A chunin with a burn across his face came running up. "He's struck again." He said breathing heavily. "He managed to get Neji Hyuuga this time, and we're left with a more intact crime scene for Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade's eyes hardened and she quickly followed the Chunin with Jiraiya, running quickly with Shizune. It wasn't long until they came to a hotel room on the ground floor and Tsunade headed inside the room, past the ANBU guarding it. Shizune just followed with her mentor.

Tsunade stared at the grisly reason why they believed this room to be the crime scene. There, on the nightstand, was a jar with the eyeballs of a Hyuuga and a note written in red, her nose was telling her it was blood but she refused to become useless. Not when there was such a danger involved.

She shakily picked it up and flipped it open '_His eyes were useless'_

Tsunade swallowed softly at the brutality of the comment and looked to the glass jar where the eyes resided. A branch member had been killed and had their eyes deemed useless. This was someone capable of getting not only clan heirs but seasoned Jonin like Shikaku Nara.

Tsunade began to look around with Shizune, looking over things and getting increasingly more confused. Not a smudge, not a hair, not a finger print. Not even on the night stand where it should be littered with finger prints.

"Tsunade-sama, I have a residue along the walls," Shizune said, rubbing it between her gloved fingers. "Though, I'm pretty sure it's just tape." She said.

Tsunade glanced back thinking about it. "He's put up plastic. That's why the walls are so clean." She said. Tsunade then moved to the shower and the tub, looking confused as to why they were separate. It was a rather unique item. She wondered if the killer used them.

She ran her fingers along the walls. She then tried the drain, finding a slight residue. She smelled the residue carefully. "Iodine." She said softly. The perpetrator had used iodine to sterilize himself most likely. She got a swab and began to try the drain, but found it as squeaky clean as the rest of the damned room.

Tsunade then went to the tub and stepped inside of it. She checked the drain once more, feeling another residue. She smelled it as well and drew back, almost gagging. The smell of chemicals was strong. And there wasn't a trace of iodine.

Tsunade stood up and looked to the Chunin. "How old is this crime scene?" she asked.

"The owner said the maid came in this morning. Due to the possibility of the perpetrator using a different identity, we didn't ask who it was that rented the room last night." He said.

"Find out who it was," Tsunade said sharply. "Shizune, get to the sewage plant, you're going to be looking for a bloody looking water. It should smell like chemicals and none of the ones I've shown you. Move!" she barked out and watched as her apprentice and the Chunin took off running.

Jiraiya glanced to Tsunade for a moment. "You think you might have something?" he asked as she swabbed the drain to the tub and then put it in a glass vial as evidence.

"I have a theory." Tsunade said swallowing softly. "And whoever is doing it is smart, as smart as I am at least." She said as she glanced to her teammate. "Imagine a mixture of chemicals that becomes a powerful acid capable of eating through a human body in a matter of minutes, bones and teeth included."

"How fast?" Jiraiya asked, writing in a notebook.

Tsunade glanced to the tub for a moment. "At tops? Twenty minutes, twenty minutes to breakdown the skin, muscle, organs, and bones. It depends on the concentration of the mix that they used." Tsunade looked back to her teammate. "If he's using the strongest concentration possible, you're looking anywhere from five to ten minutes. I'd need to know the chemicals he was using first."

Jiraiya continued to write things down. "And how do you know it's a he?" he asked her.

Tsunade shrugged. "I don't, I just prefer using a better pronoun than it."

Jiraiya nodded before he flipped his book closed. "To be honest with you Hime," he said and sighed. "I think he's been doing this a lot more, to a lot more folks. We've just started to catch his victims because they took on a higher profile."

Tsunade nodded. "How many people are in Konoha now?" she asked.

"Since we're on lockdown and no one gets in or out? We're looking about seventy thousand people." He said. "Seven thousand or so of that are Shinobi."

Tsunade sighed, glancing up to the Hokage monument as she left the hotel. "Hashi-Ojisan." She said softly, wishing her Grandfather was back.

(_Scene Break)_

Three weeks, another two murders, this time they were inconspicuous nobodies. The patterns left by the people missing and dead just didn't make sense. A few of those that were missing came up found, so they were ruled out.

They had taken in a suspect, but after a mind dive by Inoichi, it was found that the person didn't know anything about what was going on. The poor doctor had been almost traumatized by the idea of killing someone, even as an act of triage.

They had another suspect, despite some vehement protests that they couldn't possibly have done it. Tsunade moved with a squad of ANBU towards the apartment, going up the steps. She had orders from Sarutobi, orders that he didn't want to write.

Tsunade leaned back and kicked the door off its hinges, seeing the tuff of blonde hair spin around to see her. The scent of chemicals was strong inside the room and she covered her mouth briefly. "Naruto Uzumaki, you are to move away from the table." She said

The damnable blonde moved forward away from the table to the center of the table. He fell to his knees, hands clasped onto his head like a routine that had been practiced. Worse yet was the cold look in his eyes, a cold look that would even send a shiver down her pale teammate's spine.

"Take him into custody." Tsunade barked to the ANBU, watching as they grabbed the thirteen year old blonde. She stepped forward to look at the table, seeing books on anatomy, chemistry, biology, everything that a genius could use to make a cocktail mix of death and destruction.

She also saw a scratched out Taki headband and a tri-bladed red and black scythe. It took a bit of searching, but she found a secret panel that revealed the chemicals used. They were different from the ones she had smelled, not at all fooled by the basic chemistry set on the table.

These were the ones used in the killings of the people.

The village's Jinchuriki was killing its populace.

Tsunade then had the ANBU cordon off the apartment; all of it would be evidence.

(_Scene Break)_

Naruto eventually found himself sitting with his hands tied and chakra suppression seals placed all over him. His hands were behind his back and tied to the chair even. His blonde hair overshadowed his eyes, keeping the people in the court room from seeing the cerulean blue eyes.

Around him stood ANBU, he could see Jiraiya in front of him, Tsunade and Shizune with him and discussing their findings no doubt. He could see the hesitancy on Jiraiya's face, the old sage not wanting to believe what was going on.

Sarutobi was talking to a man with his face and arms bandaged. According to his sources, the man was Danzo. Undoubtedly he'd want Naruto to be kept as a working serial killer. Naruto just had a problem taking orders and he'd fight back.

Naruto's gaze flicked over to Ibiki, undoubtedly the man that would be trying to draw information from Naruto. He could see the various clan heads and the elders talking as well in hushed whispers. He was quite impressed at the fact there was a full court for his crimes.

"My oh my," Naruto began, startling everyone who thought that he'd be ignored. "A full council court for little old me." Naruto raised his head up and grinned sadistically. "Shall we cut right to the chase Ji-san?" Naruto asked, grinning more at the shiver that went down Sarutobi's spine. "How about you Godfather?" Naruto asked, his eyes turning cold and his tone venomous as he spat out the title at Jiraiya, startling those that knew of Naruto's connection to the white haired Sannin.

Jiraiya's face contorted in rage a bit. "The monster sitting in front of me isn't my Godson." He said just as frostily. "My godson apparently died a long time ago."

"Six years ago if you want to count my very first murder." Naruto said almost proudly "Better to be who I am than the village's bitch." He spat out.

"What did you mean by Neji's eyes were worthless?" Hiashi asked standing up.

Naruto glanced over to Hiashi. "That vile seal, the Caged Bird Seal, was better than I anticipated. It sealed his eyes off when I tore them out of his skull before I killed him."

Hiashi stiffened, in rage or shock it was hard to tell. "And what of my daughters' eyes?" he asked in a cold tone.

"The daughter you cared about or the daughter you suddenly cared about when she went missing?" Naruto asked.

Hiashi strode over and instead of using his clan's signature Taijutsu style; he balled his hand into a fist and delivered a harsh punch to Naruto's jaw, snapping the blonde's head to the left.

Naruto tasted blood in his mouth, coughing a bit and laughing at the same time as he ran his tongue over his teeth. "Oh that was good," he said with a mouthful of blood. He popped the loose tooth out of his gums and then spat the blood and the tooth out onto the floor. He turned to look at Hiashi. "Thank you sir, may I have another?"

Hiashi's hand balled up and he was about to take another swing when Sarutobi cut in. "Hiashi! That's enough! You're letting him goad you."

Hiashi gave a very un-Hyuuga like sound of frustration before he moved away.

Naruto spat out another glob of blood. "I doubt it's any consolation, but Hinata wasn't planned." Naruto said to Hiashi's back. "She followed me when I had Shikamaru, and unfortunately I couldn't let her just go after seeing me start. I wouldn't have noticed her until she started crying. She begged me to let her go, that she'd never tell a soul." Naruto glanced down to the blood on the floor. "But I couldn't run the risk. She's probably the only kill I regret. I even drugged her before killing her, letting her be unconscious when I took the eyes and put her in the chemical bath."

"What did you do with Hinata's eyes Naruto? Did you do the same with Hanabi's?" Sarutobi asked from his spot, moving over to Naruto.

Naruto glanced up at the old man. "Yes, I took Hanabi's as well. I sold both sets to Kumo. They paid me handsomely for both sets; in fact Kumo also got Neji's testicles when I had removed them. In fact, their payment kept me supplied in my chemicals and will keep me supplied for quite some time." Naruto could see Hiashi stiffen once more out of the corner of his eyes. "The Caged Bird Seal doesn't protect testicles from physical removal; you might want to get on that."

Naruto's head snapped back, blackness filling his vision until he blinked it clear. It took several moments. "Oh fuck that one hurt." He said as he checked his teeth with his tongue. He snapped his head forward to see it had been Sarutobi that had struck him with a palm strike.

"Hiruzen, end this farce. He obviously killed those people. Let us remove the Kyuubi and reseal it into another child. We tried your method, now it's my turn." Danzo said stepping forward, his cane hitting the ground.

"So hasty, not even having all the facts I have," Naruto said as he shook his head, trying to finish clearing his vision. He saw double still but soon that was coming into focus. Naruto's eyes turned to Jiraiya. "Akatsuki." He said simply, gleefully enjoying the way Jiraiya's spine stiffened.

Unfortunately, such an action didn't go unmissed by everyone else. Sarutobi turned to his student. "I had meant to report in on it," Jiraiya explained quickly. "Orochimaru was once a member and the organization is interested in the Jinchuriki. When you pulled me onto duty in finding the murderer of those people, it slipped my mind and I've been working closely with Tsunade the past few weeks." He explained quickly.

Naruto's hands came forward, the ninja wire holding his hands back falling slack. He had long since learned how to escape any physical bonds like that. He reached into his opened jacket and from a seal inside he pulled out a thick folder. "Akatsuki Known members include Pain of Ame, single handed slayer of Hanzo the Salamander. Has the Rinnegan. Konan of Ame, Pain's right hand woman, abilities include the use of Origami as a weapon. Itachi Uchiha of Konoha, slayer of the Uchiha Clan. Abilities include the Sharingan and its Mangekyo variant. Kisame Hoshigaki of Kiri, wielder of the Samehada and former Seven Swordsmen of Mist, abilities include large, ridiculously large chakra reserves and a skilled swordsman. Sasori of the Red Sands of Suna. Puppet master extraordinaire uses an extensive amount of poison. Deidara the Mad Bomber of Iwa, explosives expert. His abilities involve explosive laced clay. Zetsu the Cannibal, the spy master for the group. Abilities involve being able to meld with the ground, trees, and other pants." He said before he snapped the thick folder closed.

Sarutobi saw an ANBU checking each of the names in a Bingo book. "With the exception of Pain and Konan, they are all in here Hokage-sama, each S-Ranked."

Sarutobi turned to Naruto who wasn't even bothered by the swords at his throat who was offering over the folder. "Information in that is accurate, about five months old, but accurate. Straight from the mouth of a former member." He said.

"Members just don't quit." Jiraiya said. "It's my understanding that Orochimaru was forced out, even injured." He said.

Naruto grinned a bit more. "Two of my favorite trophies to be honest. Kazuku of Taki's headband and Hidan the Jashinist's scythe. Kazuku was easy to drop; I simply laced a briefcase of his with an airborne gas that would render him unconscious in mere seconds. Such a miser, he didn't even think the brief case was rigged. Poof, he was out like a light. I used five times the normal dosage, he had five hearts." Naruto said with a slight shrug. "As for Hidan, it took some work, but I just cut his arms, legs, and head off."

Naruto closed his eyes, smiling as he remembered it. "Hidan was dipped into my acid bath, one piece at a time. Kazuku came to and I made him an offer. I'd let him go, let him live on. In exchange, he'd give me information and wouldn't come after me." Naruto's eyes opened. "He had stubbornly refused until Hidan was proven to be dead. An immortal that died because his bodies were reduced to sludge and then flushed away like one giant piece of shit. Kazuku then sang like a canary. I took his headband as a reminder to him that I was able to beat him at the age of thirteen, I haven't heard anything from him to be honest."

Sarutobi knew of Kazuku, his Sensei's brother had been attacked by the man. He had thought the man to be dead, but apparently he lived on because of his Jutsu. If this Hidan was a member of the Akatsuki organization, then he was undoubtedly another S-ranked Nin.

Naruto glanced over to Danzo. "This brings me to my last point. If you unseal the Kyuubi from me and put it into another infant, then Akatsuki will come after the infant and they have the Kyuubi already without question, without hesitation. Boom, Akatsuki wins. If you simply kill me, then the Kyuubi reforms in a couple years, rampages and kill hundreds, some village nabs it and seals it up; bam Konoha no longer has a Jinchuriki. What if Kumo, who has two Jinchuriki already, gets a third?"

Naruto leaned into Sarutobi. "So you're stuck." He said to the aged Hokage. "And your only option is to lock me away in the deepest, darkest cell you have. Akatsuki's spies are everywhere; they probably already know I've been taken into custody and that I've been the one killing all those people."

Sarutobi looked at the blonde. Why did it have to come to this? What happened to that patriotism that both Kushina and Minato had displayed in spades? Had the village truly destroyed any hope for this young child? Not only that, but Naruto displayed a mind like no other, not even Orochimaru had compared.

Sarutobi pinched the bridge of his nose. "Take him away." Sarutobi whispered softly, motioning to the ANBU. "Make him disappear, but keep him alive, keep him alive at all costs."

"Hiruzen, you surely can't be serious." Danzo said.

Sarutobi glared to his former rival. "Imagine Iwa getting the Kyuubi. Who do you think their first target would be?"

Danzo winced before he backed down, understanding Hiruzen's point. "What about unsealing the Kyuubi and putting it into someone else?"

Sarutobi shook his head. "We can't take that risk. We'll make better preparations to hide Naruto forever. He won't be free, not ever." He said.

It felt like he swallowed a very bitter pill to be honest.

"Oh!" Naruto said gleefully as he was being lead roughly out of the room. "If you want a proper count of all my victims, I'd double the amount of suspected victims you have, which I'd say is around twenty and some change, and then tack a zero on the end. You'd be closer!"

Sarutobi managed to wait until Naruto was gone before he let out a sound of utter frustration and helplessness. His foot lashed out and destroyed the chair the blonde had been sitting in. The son of two of the most brilliant Shinobi he had ever met had turned into a monster as bad as Orochimaru.

Sarutobi didn't even dismiss everyone, he just walked out. His shoulders were slumped and his head hung low. He had hoped to mold Naruto into a fine and splendid Shinobi, a worthy successor of the title of Hokage.

Instead, he had gotten monster.

(_Scene Break)_

Naruto was taken away. He was drugged and blindfolded and taken away and put into somewhere that he wouldn't be able to find his way out of.

He was stripped of all of his possessions and thrown into an eight by ten cell with no window and no light. Not even a hole to go to the bathroom in, not even something to sleep on.

Ass naked, he took stock of his surroundings when the drug wore off: Concrete walls, thick, and a massive steel door. He could feel the place leeching his chakra out, likely taking it away to act as a power supplement to Konoha.

Naruto grinned a little bit to himself and moved to the wall on the far side of the door. There, he sat down. "You'll need me. It may be days, it may be weeks, it may be months, and it could even be years. But you'll need a monster such as me." Naruto said to no one, no one would hear it. "And I'll be waiting."

(_Scene Break)_

The light tapping of a cane beat a steady staccato on the cold, unyielding concrete. He entered the maximum security interrogation cell. The door had to be opened from the other side, a side that he left one of his better men on so that he could escape if necessary.

The room was a foot of solid concrete in every direction, with a foot of solid steel for a door. The only things that made the room any better than the cell that the prisoner had spent the last ten years in was the sole light that was above them and the steel table and chairs bolted into the floor.

He glanced to the four ROOT agents that hid in the corners. Men that had taken on countless missions that they shouldn't have come back from and each had come back each and every time. If his life was in danger, they wouldn't hesitate to drop the prisoner.

Only one, Danzo noted, stood beside him. Fu had his hands clasped behind his back, his spine ramrod straight. Torune was outside the door in case this went south.

He had struggled for the past ten years to get clearance for what he was about to do. He didn't blame Tsunade, Sarutobi's successor in the title of Hokage, to be cautious when regarding the village's weapon.

However, Danzo knew of the murderous feelings the boy was feeling. He had felt them himself before he had entered ANBU, his Sensei had beaten it into him on how to give such feelings a direction instead of lashing out at everyone.

Sociopaths and Psychos were not uncommon in Shinobi Forces. Such things happened a little less so in Konoha, but not unheard of even given the quirks of some of the more Elite Shinobi.

"Bring him in." Danzo rasped as he sat down. Soon enough, the prisoner had been brought in, the door shutting and locking behind him.

Danzo looked at Naruto Uzumaki, a fully grown man of 23. Ten years in prison had been surprisingly good to Naruto. He was a little skinny for as much muscle as he had on his bones, but it was all tightly compact into a lithe form. Danzo was somewhat reminded of the Namikaze boy that had become the Yondaime. Naruto's hair was ragged and would need to be cut and washed, but given that he never got anything more than a patch job worth of a hair-cut and that he only got sprayed down with a hose once a week, it was to be expected.

Naruto was forcefully sat down across from Danzo and the blonde looked at Danzo with those cold blue eyes. Danzo knew those eyes; he had looked himself in the mirror every day with those eyes.

They were the eyes of a sociopath that had gone entirely too long without the rush of the kill.

"What do you want old man?" Naruto asked, his voice a deep throaty sound, a sound that Danzo had often accompanied with the men of the Uzumaki clan before they went extinct.

All down to the blonde sitting across from him.

"How did you stay in such good shape?" Danzo asked calmly. Perhaps if he took some of the other sociopaths and put them in such conditions… they'd make fine weapons.

Naruto's lips quirked into a lopsided smirk. "Push-ups, back flips, front flips, jumping jacks, sit-ups. I had no books to read, nothing to write, just had to pass the time. Amazing what water, bread, rice, and the occasional fat rat will get you isn't it?" he asked.

So the blonde had taken to eating whatever came his way to survive. That was good, Danzo needed a survivor. "How's that itch? The one we both know you haven't scratched but sits just below the surface?" he asked.

Naruto cracked his neck slowly, inhaling. "There, just waiting. I don't mind though. What's this meeting about Old man? Shouldn't you be looking for a successor?"

Danzo frowned a moment before nodding. "You're right; I am in dire need to train a proper successor. That being said, that's not why I'm here. I need a proper successor, and that just isn't you." He said. "I am old Uzumaki, I am eighty years old, and I don't have much longer for this world." Danzo finished.

Naruto nodded slowly, understanding slowly. He still wasn't sure where the old man was going with this.

Danzo rubbed his face, feeling his age a little bit more. "But before I find my successor, I have one last project that needs to be done. I need to set you to work."

Naruto smirked. "Ah, so Konoha finally comes to me for help. And what exactly do you mean old man? Setting me to work? I don't take orders. Not from you, not from any Hokage. I'm my own, free man." He said.

"I suppose not." Danzo said thinking a bit about what the blonde was saying. "So instead, I won't give you orders. I don't have time to try and break you of that free will you wish to exhibit. So I offer you… direction I suppose."

Naruto decided to humor the old man. From what he heard of Danzo, this was uncharacteristic of the old man. Setting a murderer like him loose?

Danzo coughed suddenly, Fu moving to his side quickly. "Danzo-sama…" the Yamanaka said softly, concerned for his leader.

Danzo waved Fu off. "Kumo." He said to the Uzumaki blonde. "Plenty of hiding spots for bodies, with a village bigger than Konoha's. And I hear they are interested in a new torture and interrogation expert." Danzo said.

Naruto watched Danzo, thinking about what the old man was playing at. It was a well-played game. "Why are you setting me loose? Really?"

Danzo closed his eyes, only one noticeable to the blonde. "I have done many things in the grand scheme of things, all for the good of Konoha. I have lied, I have cheated, I have stolen, I have killed and murdered. I have even worked with Orochimaru in an attempt to extend my life so that I may continue my work. The Jutsu he came up with for such a thing was however not a particularly effective thing and as such I had no desire to use it. I have operated from the shadows for so long that I know sometimes the most effective weapon is the weapon you have no control over."

Danzo opened his eyes and pierced the blonde with a hard look. "I have a year to live according to my personal doctors. Iwa is a shadow of their former-self, as is Kiri after the bloodline wars. Neither will ever be able to reclaim their former glory. Suna is an ally of Konoha, a precarious one at best, but one that has been cultivated slowly. They lack the numbers and skill to be a legitimate threat to us. This leaves us with Kumo."

"Numbers, skill, tools, and two Jinchuriki." Naruto said with a smirk. Danzo was trying to weaken the last of the big five that would be a truly troublesome thing to Konoha. "But you can't guarantee that I will be an effective weapon. Once I'm out of Konoha, I'm gone. Until I scratch that itch, I can ignore it. You'd never find me again."

"A risk that I am willing to take at this age Uzumaki." Danzo removed a passport to Kumo from his kimono and put it on the table. It wasn't some half-assed forgery; it was the real deal, an actual passport to Kumo from Kumo, with the stamp of the Raikage on it.

Naruto looked at the passport before up at Danzo. "How long do I have to get out of Konoha?" he asked.

Danzo watched the blonde. "If you're seen within five kilometers of Konoha, there is a kill on sight order for you."

Naruto made a small sound with his mouth before he grabbed the passport. "Guess I won't be seen then. Now let me the fuck out of here,"

Danzo had Fu give the signal to Torune through Torune's small bugs. The door was opened and Danzo looked to the blonde. "From one sociopath to another, enjoy yourself Uzumaki."

Naruto smirked a bit before he took off running through the halls, clutching the passport in one hand. His ticket into Kumo, to get away from the cesspit that he hated.

Even as naked as the day he was born, he ran with everything he had. He had kept his muscles as strong as he could and his lungs as working as best as they had been. The Kyuubi inside his gut helped, maybe. He didn't know, he never spoke with the beast. Not once.

Naruto emerged from the bunker and shielded his eyes to the bright glaring sun that he hadn't seen in ten years. He squinted a moment before he dashed ahead to hide in the shadows. He could be out of the village in thirty minutes tops if he just sprinted for the gate. He might be able to lose his pursuers if he ran fast enough.

Unfortunately, Naruto also needed clothes.

When his eyes adjusted to the bright light a little bit more, he peeked around the corner to try and catch his bearings. He saw the Hokage Monument, five heads standing proudly upon it. That helped him. He took off towards the training fields. It was a dangerous gambit really, but a necessary one.

He stuck to the bushes and the shadows. He could not be seen. Despite his really impressive kill count, he was a thinker instead of a fighter due to the social parameters that went on in his life prior to his incarceration.

He had studied Kazuku, he had studied Hidan. Even Hidan he hadn't engaged directly. Instead, he lured the fool into a trap, a trap that had severed his limbs and head.

He also hadn't been doing proper training in ten years.

Naruto found a training field with a river and began to look around. He soon found a rusty shuriken with two of the four prongs bent and broken. He heard someone and he ducked behind a tree. He held the Shuriken close, prepared to do a very bloody kill if necessary.

His heart pounded in his chest as he caught sight of Konohamaru with his team. They passed through the training field and Naruto exhaled in relief. He remembered a long time ago when he had killed someone that had threated Konohamaru's life.

He still wasn't sure why he did it.

Naruto ducked into the water, using one hand to properly wash some more of the grime off of his body from his long incarceration. He then drew his long blonde hair back into a make-shift pony tail, holding it in place. He then cut it short with the Shuriken, cutting it as close to his skull as he could.

Naruto simply let the blonde hair flow down the river.

Naruto got out of the cold river and took off once more. He stuck to the shadows and the bushes, even if things were still blurry to him because of the light. His eyes were adjusting, but ten years was still ten years, especially without light.

He found a clothesline and soon ripped down a still damp shirt and pair of pants. He quickly put them both on. Now he needed some sandals or something.

Naruto kept moving, swearing as he was almost spotted by a team chasing after a damn cat. He grimaced and press himself flush against a wall as an Inuzuka sniffed at the air. Soon the Inuzuka walked off, ignoring the blonde completely. Whether Naruto was thought to be a homeless individual or some trash, Naruto didn't care which.

Naruto opened a window and slipped into a house. He ducked into a closet as someone passed by into the bathroom. The door was left open a crack and Naruto was greeted to the sight of a very shapely blonde woman stripping.

Naruto was then very sharply reminded that he had ten years of hormones pent up.

"Not now." He whispered harshly down to his groin. He didn't have time to handle that particular problem. Nor did he have time to lose his virginity at the moment.

When the shower started to run, Naruto crept out of the closet and headed down the stairs. He paused as he heard someone in the kitchen. He snuck by the other woman. He grabbed a pair of black, men's sandals at the door and slipped them onto his feet before he snuck out another window.

One woman had to of been the mother and the other the daughter. He hoped at least. Still, Naruto really wanted to go back to that bathroom, grab the blonde woman's pony tail and just sink himself into her.

He growled a moment before he punched a brick wall. He felt his knuckles in his hand break and it felt good. It kept him focused.

He had sandals, he had clothes. Now he just needed to get out of there. Food would come later on his trip to Kumo, but so long as he was in the Land of Fire, he was a dead man walking.

Five kilometers around Konoha his ass, he knew that any Konoha Shinobi that could tell who he was would try to kill him if he was spotted and recognized in the Land of Fire.

Naruto made it to an alley near the front gate of the village. He had spotted a caravan movie with plenty of people and wagons for him to slip inside of. He just needed a distraction.

He caught it as he saw the same team attempting to catch Tora once more. He slung his warped and worthless shuriken, his mind having already calculated the variables. It spun and looped around before slashing out a cord, dropping a banner. Tora made it under the banner, but the Genin team which had been chasing Tora had been going full tilt. They were caught up in it and began to tumble, taking out a cart of food. The distraction proved humorous to the people around except the Genin and the vendor working from the food cart.

Naruto then stepped forward, stepping up onto the wheel and slipping inside a bunch of hay and lying inside of it, hidden from view with the cows.

Konoha was lax enough with their security that they didn't even open the carts to make sure nothing was being stolen. Fucking bleeding hearts.

While Naruto travelled with the cattle, he thought about all that he knew that he was capable of, his mind going a hundred miles an hour to come up with a legitimate business inside of Kumo.

Unfortunately, being a sociopath by itself usually didn't pay the bills and he had never gotten into the underworld of crime to dispose of bodies that needed to be disposed of.

He was sure that if he wanted to, he could but it would take entirely too long for his personal preference. It was also possible that such actions would draw Konoha back to him and he wanted to be someplace that would give them pause.

Kumo would be the best bet he could think of.

His resources were limited. Extensively so. A private tutor, one he had after his… first Sensei up and abandoned him, had noticed that Naruto had massive reserves and would never be able to perform the regular clone technique. So the man had petitioned Sarutobi and was allowed to teach Naruto the advanced Shadow Clone technique.

Naruto, keeping with his pranking persona, had also come up with that atrocious joke of a Jutsu. He admitted that it had merit, but it would require some thinking. After all, becoming a full-fledged woman wasn't much of a help in a battle situation. Though he had to admit, for espionage work, it might help a little bit.

Show a bit of cleavage and men turned into idiots.

He knew it and every other guy in the Elemental Nations knew it.

Naruto could also perform the standard substitution technique, but that was bread and butter of being a Shinobi.

He knew tactics and could work steps ahead of any opponent, even a Nara, who attempted to keep up with him. He had just enough strength that he could move whatever he needed to without issues, even a fully grown Akimichi. Not a fully expanded one, but definitely a fully grown one.

"_Remember you worthless shit, the basics can kill. Even me."_ Naruto clutched his head as he remembered his first sensei that had beaten Naruto from the age of five to seven when the man had no longer showed up.

After that, Naruto had committed his first kill. A random civilian with no standing, the poor woman just vanished one day. Of course, it might also have to deal with the fact that Naruto couldn't stand the broad over charging him.

He was taught to treat every kill as precious, like a completely new high. He had kept trophies of them, of every single one of his four hundred some odd kills. He would need to get that back sometime, but that meant infiltrating Konoha once more.

Naruto had learned much under the man, he had learned to take a beating and keep throwing punches, even if his punches felt like no more than a bee sting. A hundred bee stings could still fell a human.

Still, Naruto had some bulk to him now and he'd only get a bit bigger.

(_Scene break)_

Naruto made his way along the beaches of the island, feeling a sense of belonging that he had never felt before. It was so different.

It had taken him a week to get there, but Naruto instantly liked it. He was home, for better or for worse, he was home.

He was standing at the ruins of Uzushiogakure.

Say what you would about the Senju clan and the Uchiha clan, the Uzumaki clan had become the pinnacle aspect of Shinobi life.

The Uzumaki had their own hidden village, built to give peace to the clan and their sort of serf like clans. And the Uzumaki had gone down swinging against overwhelming odds whereas the Uchiha clan went like a whisper in the dark and the Senju clan through bad Genetics and bad luck.

Naruto walked the ruins, his head held high, even as he saw that the wild life of the island had spilled into the village. Wolves lingered about, but they didn't attack, none daring to come close to him.

Naruto rushed for a while and quickly scaled it with his chakra, going towards the highest point he could. "I'M HOME!" he roared out at the top of his lungs, getting that off of his chest if for no other reason than it seemed like an Uzumaki thing to do.

He leapt off and went about doing what he had planned on doing.

Uzushiogakure had fallen, but the village had never been sacked. It hadn't been plundered either. He supposed that he should thank Tsunade for not letting people trample all over the village. It made him wonder how many had tried and how many headbands were at the bottom of the ocean.

Naruto went to the treasury of the Uzumaki clan and nodded to himself at what he saw.

The Uzumaki, to him, came off as a practical sort. That meant they likely wouldn't have many Ryo notes as currency. They had something worth more value than a slip of paper. They had gold, and lots of it.

Naruto gathered a substantial amount of gold and sealed it up. It would help him in getting things started in Kumo. He'd need a shop front, and a home to himself. He wanted places where he wouldn't have to be worrying about paying someone else.

He'd also need supplies and more chemicals again. All he had was his emergency stash of chemicals that he had kept for ten years. He briefly worried that he wouldn't be able to unseal it, but then shook his head at the notion.

Naruto gathered a few books from the personal library of the village leader, Most of them were on sealing to be honest, but a few were on a few other things Naruto was always interested in learning.

He then headed over to the desk of the leader and from the top of it; he took the sword and scroll that were both just lying there. He unsheathed the crimson blade, the sword gleaming like the day it was forged.

It was probably still sharp too.

Naruto sighed softly before he headed out.

He had already found some clothes from the place that he liked. He wore a pair of black pants with a burnt orange sash and a simple crimson vest style top. The sword was tucked into the sash and held securely in place by it.

The scroll was tucked into the front of the vest, a seal there to keep it safe. He had exchanged the black sandals for black boots instead.

"Off to Kumo." He muttered to himself, wondering what he was going to do with the country he was leaving. He couldn't leave it to Tsunade.

Eh, he'd figure it out in time.

(_Scene Break)_

Naruto made good time to Kumo in his opinion. He first went to the Land of Lightning's capital to get things taken care of. He got a second passport for a 'sister' that didn't really exist. He also bought a store in Kumo as well as a small two bedroom, two bathroom house near said store.

Naruto also stocked up on his chemicals and other supplies, both for his sociopathic tendencies and for the business venture that he was attempting. What did he know about running a business? Abso-fucking-lutely little.

It had taken two whole months from his leaving Konoha to where he was ready to open up business in Kumo.

He had also noticed a few things during his time there. One, it was fucking wet. It rained at least once a week. The fact Kumo was in the Land of Lightning should have tipped him off. Two, it was fucking cold. They were on top of a fucking mountain for crying out loud. Three, light skinned people were the minority. He could count the number he had seen on his hands and feet. That meant nothing to him really, people were actually rather friendly.

Naruto, in his outfit he had gotten from Uzushigakure, or one of the sets he had made afterwards, was standing in front of his shop with a clone that had transformed into his female form in a similar outfit, more designed for women.

"Free spa treatment!" he called out as he passed out flyers to the nearby passers. "Free spa treatment folks, just give the flyer to the front desk when you come in!" he called out. He had been at it for a few days no, passing out flyers with his clone.

He knew human anatomy fairly well and his clones practiced massages on him to make sure that they could do that correctly. Past that, all it took was reading up on spas to see the other things they did and working out how he could do that.

"Free spa treatment! First one is on us! The flyers are good until you give them in!" His clone called out passing out a few more.

"What's going on here?" A cool female voice asked.

Naruto turned to regard the three that had come up behind him. His eyes swept over them quickly, his mind already analyzing them and sizing them up. One was a busty blonde with a thin frame, in fact her shoulders and neck showed the strain from her breasts. Her hair was cut short, barely brushing her neck, and she had some blue eyes that pierced him. She was in what he learned was the standard Kumo Shinobi outfit, and had a tanto strapped to her lower back.

The second Kunoichi was a dark-skinned woman with thick, long, spikey red hair. She seemed to be a little less calm and collected than the blonde, something Naruto could tell by her gold eyes. Her red hair was also setting off that itch inside of him, being reminded of his first Sensei for a moment. She had a katana strapped to her back and wore much the same outfit.

The male Shinobi was another dark-skinned individual with short and spikey white hair dark eyes. His outfit was a little darker than the two Kunoichi's but that didn't seem to matter to anyone. He also had a katana strapped to his back.

Naruto also knew that the blonde was the most dangerous of the trio.

He put on his best smile. "I'm handing out flyers for a free spa treatment. This includes a full body, deep tissue massage and a hot spring treatment," he informed her, turning to hand one to each of the team. "I am authorized to have a business here in Kumo, I can even show you my paperwork if you'd like." Naruto said trying to be as professional as possible

The male of the group looked to Naruto with narrowed eyes as he looked at the flyer. "Why are you just giving away free treatments? That seems bad for business."

Naruto shrugged slightly. "Perhaps, but I am confident enough in mine and my sister's abilities that if I can get you into my place of business that you will leave a tip and return for another treatment when the stress of the Shinobi lifestyle is too much of a burden once more."

The light-skinned female looked down to the flyer as well and then up at Naruto, narrowing those blue eyes. "There isn't any perverted hijinks involved with this is there?" she asked slowly and calmly.

"No ma'am," Naruto offered, keeping his smile in place. "You may choose who gives you the massage and I have the men's and women's sections of the hot spring completely separated from one another." He assured her.

"Can I see your passport and work papers?" she asked, staying completely business.

Naruto fished them out of the front of his vest, having kept both together. He then handed it to his fellow blonde, letting her read them over and look at the passport which had his grinning face on it. "Naruko, your passport!" he called over to his clone.

He caught the tossed object and handed it over as well, letting the three look at them and examine them. Soon they were returned to him and he tossed his clone the passport back.

"Could I have another two of those flyers?" The light skinned woman asked. "I would like to give them to two others that would appreciate the offer."

Naruto had to play the trusting fool. He wanted to ask whom, but he didn't bother. "Who are you talking about Samui?" the dark-skinned female asked.

"Mabui-san and Yugito-san." The now named Samui said to her dark skinned teammate.

Naruto handed the two flyers over to the busty blonde. "Here you go." He told her.

"That's rather cool of you to do this." Samui said before she turned and walked away with her group to report to the Raikage who had wanted to know what was going on. Now they knew.

"Naruko, I'm taking a break." Naruto said as he handed the stack of papers to the clone. He entered the shop and went to the employee section.

He rubbed his face with some cool water, looking up into the mirror. Kami, that itch was starting to hurt. He needed to scratch it, he needed to kill. "Not yet." He whispered to himself.

It was too soon for him to just up and kill someone. He needed to establish himself in Kumo first.

End


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

She felt his hands glide over her bare back and she arched slightly against the table as she felt those fingers working into those sore, tense muscles. Mabui sighed in delight as he worked out a particularly difficult knot. She had needed this, she had needed this so badly after being the Raikage's assistant for months on end and having to deal with his shenanigans as well as Bee's.

The blonde male definitely knew how to work his hands. She arched a bit more as his hands slid lower, down towards her shapely rear.

She rolled over, purposely letting the towel slide away from her, having her body exposed to him, breasts and all. She took the blonde's hands and drew them up towards her full breasts. Her hands were slick with the oil on his hands as she reached down and grasped his length.

She drew him closer with her legs drawing him towards her entrance.

Mabui snapped awake from the very vivid dream just as thunder crashed outside. She groaned as she allowed her head to flop back onto the pillows. "Damn." She whispered. "Just a dream." She said. Still, she was damp between her legs; she could feel it sticking to her thighs.

Her nipples even brushed against the fabric of the tank top she wore hard little eager nubs.

She placed a hand on her face as she listened to the rain outside, attempting to get back to sleep, but it was of no use.

She threw the blankets off of her and slipped out of bed. In just a pair of panties and a tank top, she went to the bathroom to get a glass of water. She filled it up slowly and drank deeply before looking at herself in the mirror with her green eyes.

Her white, near silver hair was a mess but that was fine. She wasn't going to brush it just to go back to sleep. Her skin was a mocha color that was common in Kumo but not so much everywhere else. Her breasts were barely contained in the tank top, her bust size comparable to Samui's. The only reason the blonde got called out on hers more was Samui was seen in the village proper more often and Samui wore a lower cut top.

Mabui looked down to her long legs, proud of them and the way they had shaped up through puberty and training. It had also given her a rather nice rear to go with them. She had some of the men that visited the Raikage's office constantly staring at it.

Mabui shook her head. "What the hell is wrong with me? He's not that handsome and it wasn't that good of a massage." She said as she filled the glass of water up and began to drink it.

But then again, she was also lying to herself. It had been an excellent massage of the highest caliber.

_(Flashback)_

_Mabui entered the sizeable shop in her usual light brown garb that came to about mid-thigh on her. She saw the blonde male of the siblings standing at the counter, doing bookwork, which could be understandable if this was his first business venture._

"_Excuse me, I was told this is the place to redeem this flyer." She said, holding up the folded flyer that was for the free spa treatment. She turned to look around a bit, even though she couldn't see much, curious about the business._

"_Yes, this would be the place." Naruto said as he looked up from his books. From the corner of her eye, she saw his eyes roam over her, staring at her rear and her legs. She was about to call him out on it when the blonde spoke up once more. "I apologize for that." He said, shaking his head and looking to her eyes._

"_Apologize for what?" Mabui asked, deciding to wait to hear what the blonde's answer was. She had thus far not been impressed with his professionalism._

"_Staring and checking you out. It was inappropriate of me." The blonde said as he moved over to her and accepted the flyer. He put it behind his counter and then looked to her. "If you'll follow me, I'm sorry to say that Naruko is already busy with a client so she won't be able to give you your massage." He said as he led her to the only other room that had a changing screen and various other things in the room._

_Mabui looked to the fair skinned male. "And why would I want her to give me a massage? In fact, what's your name?" she asked._

"_Naruto, as for why you'd prefer Naruko… well I was checking you out just a moment ago." Naruto said._

_Mabui smiled slightly. "That's okay Naruto-san; you apologized before I called you out on it. I expect you to be far more professional though from now on. As for my name, I'm Mabui."_

_Naruto nodded to the Raikage's assistant. "Towel is right there, changing screen over there. I will need you to strip out of your clothes, including your bra. The panties can stay. At no time will I be able to see anything more than I would with any other client. When I have you roll over onto your back, the towel will move with you to cover up your breasts. It is your choice if you want me to cover your upper chest, but I don't massage the abdomen, especially for a deep tissue massage. It's dangerous and can cause damage to your internal organs."_

_Mabui nodded at the blonde's rather thorough explanation of things. She took one of the large black towels and headed behind the changing screen. She stripped out of the kimono style dress and hanged it up. Her bra came off next and she placed it on the small stand. She pulled her hair out of the bun and shook her hair out before she slid off her heels._

_The towel was soon wrapped tightly around her body, a knot towards the back so that it could be undone. She felt a little modest, walking around in a pair of boy short panties and a towel, especially around a complete stranger._

_Still, Mabui stepped out to see Naruto having his back to her, preparing other things. She got onto the table and laid down on her chest. "Like this?" she asked._

_Naruto glanced over his shoulder to look at her. "Yes, that's good." He told her before he went back to what he was doing._

_Mabui watched as best as she could as Naruto moved over to her and undid the towel, spreading it out over the table. She could feel his fingers move along her back and shoulders, pressing in slightly. "What are you doing now?" It didn't feel bad, but it didn't feel good._

"_I'm checking for the most problematic areas, to feel where the tensest muscles are, where the biggest knots are." He said as his hands moved along her arms and legs after he finished with her back. He was gentle and professional through the entire thing._

_She listened to the water dribble down along a small rock wall, just a little thing that plugged into an outlet over on the counter. It helped create a soothing atmosphere. There was a scent in the air that was soothing, but she couldn't place it._

_Naruto stepped away from Mabui and went over to the counter. He grabbed a small bowl of a fluid that she quickly identified as oil._

"_The oil is heated and scented. It's heated to help relax the muscles, it's not hot, but it is a little above room temperature. The scent is meant to help you relax." The blonde said._

_Mabui nodded as she watched him place the bowl on the table where it wouldn't be knocked over by his movements. She then felt his fingers slid into her hair and began to massage her scalp. It didn't feel bad, and it was rather relaxing. But it was a different sensation._

_Then his hands dipped into the bowl of oil and he soon began to work his hands along her back. This time, there was force behind his hands. There was a method to how he pressed and rubbed and it made her groan. She groaned a bit more as he got firmer with his ministrations. It was actually painful and she could feel tears forming at her eyes._

"_A deep tissue massage is painful because it's working deeper layers of stubborn knots and tense muscles. These muscles aren't properly worked out all the time and they have more nerve receptors. Bear with me, it will feel better." Naruto told her._

_Mabui nodded as his hands kept working over her back. The hot springs at the end would probably be to help her recoup after the slightly painful experience._

_Mabui's eyes closed as she just went with the sensations. It was interesting to note how the blonde worked. It had professionalism in spades and she was definitely impressed, especially after how he had ended up staring at her in the front of his shop._

_But it also had a sense of intimacy. Like he was a lover massaging her after a hard day's work. It was slow and almost sensual. His hands didn't wander anywhere that they weren't meant to be and it was impressive. She had past experiences where the masseuse tried to cop a feel when they thought she had fallen asleep on the table._

_As his hands moved along her arms and her legs, she almost felt her eyes roll back into her head with pleasure. He also worked her feet over, the heels having been killing her feet slowly and surely. And despite the pain of the massage, there was still plenty of tenderness to it from the blonde, like he was treating a wife or a girlfriend instead of a client._

_It was almost two hours before he finished and washed his hands. Mabui's eyes languidly opened up. Her body felt loose and some parts were still a bit sore, but for the most part she felt relaxed and about ready to fall asleep. "If you'd like to collect your things Mabui-san, I'll show you to the hot springs." He said._

_Mabui slowly got up, making sure that she didn't flash the blonde. She stepped behind the changing curtain and just grabbed her clothes before heading out. She followed the blonde out and down some stairs to an artificial hot spring that had been divided into two sides. He took her to the one on the left and offered a bow to her._

_Mabui passed him by and headed into the hot springs. It was empty and she heard some light snoring through the walls which had a vent up high. Someone on the men's side must have fallen asleep in the water._

_She finished getting undressed and tossed the towel into a used towel bin. She stepped into the water and slowly settled down, sighing in relief as she felt the soothing warmth washing over her. She sank down to her neck and rested her head back._

_Now she knew why someone was asleep on the other side of the wall._

_(Flashback End)_

The relaxation had been great and she had an extra spring to her step since the massage a week ago. It had felt great and she was going to go back soon, just to see what the prices were.

The blonde had also made quite a bit of a tip from her for the massage and she understood why he had been confident in his abilities to make tips. Mabui wondered briefly what else he had to offer. She had enjoyed being pampered.

It also reminded her that she needed to thank Samui again for getting her a flyer when she had been busy in the Raikage's office.

She was grateful.

Mabui took another drink of water after she refilled the glass. She then stepped out of the bathroom and stretched herself out, giving a soft groan as she felt something pop.

She was about to step to her bed when she noticed something that put her on alert. Her window was open. She yelped a little bit as a hand covered her mouth and the other hand found its way into her panties, two fingers digging into her.

A leg snaked against her own, keeping her from being able to properly fight back. "Mabui-chan," Mabui winced at the almost slimy way that the asshole said her name. It was a Jonin that the Raikage had done his best to keep away from Mabui for his rather… aggressive movements on her.

It seemed the Jonin was trying to take what wasn't his.

If only the asshole wasn't holding her, she could teleport his ass over the highest peak in Kumo. He'd be ripped to shreds on the way there and if he managed to survive, he wouldn't survive the fall down the mountain.

His hands moved and Mabui was grateful that his fingers were no longer inside of her. Still, she struggled against him more, even as something was injected into her thigh. She tried to flare her chakra, C was in the apartment building she lived in and would be able to feel her struggling even if he was dead asleep. But her chakra wasn't responding. "What did you do to me?" she asked

"It's such a pain to get it, but it's a serum that I found out throws a person's chakra out of control. Kusa likes to use it; I had difficulty stealing the recipe." He said honestly. "But I will have you Mabui-chan, and you won't fight me. You'll slowly come to love me as I have loved you."

"You're sick." Mabui said as she tried to throw her head back and drive her head into the Jonin's nose.

Unfortunately the Jonin was bigger than her and stronger, so she was turned and her hands were soon bound and a gag shoved into her mouth. She struggled, trying to fight back. But she was still taken to the window and soon taken outside into the cold rain.

She tried to make a sound, to get someone to help her.

But it was late at night, it was storming. Kumo Shinobi would be trying to stay indoors as much as possible and they'd be trying not to look up. Her kidnapper's dark clothes would make him difficult to be seen as well.

She struggled harder, trying to get free!

(_Scene Break)_

Naruto had been awake, his cold blue eyes staring out the window as he thought. He could be out hunting; he could be out looking for a victim and for a hiding spot for their remains. The rain would be able to help wash it all away as well.

"Fucking rain." He said and snarled. His attention was drawn to the rooftops though when he saw a figure running across as the lightning flashed.

Naruto opened his window and leapt out, fingering the pouch on his right thigh that held his tools. He leapt over to the other building and quickly began to run after the fleeing Shinobi. He also noticed the person was carrying a struggling person.

Naruto put on a burst of speed, sliding across the slick tiles to overtake the fleeing man. He then threw a powder into the man's face, which despite the rain hit him and the woman full on the face. Naruto then cold cocked the man in the jaw, dropping him and the girl.

Unaware of the fact he was being watched by his victim's captive, Naruto created a Shadow Clone and ordered it to take the girl away to his place so she could sleep off the effectives of the sleeping powder she had been hit with.

He grabbed the Shinobi by the back of his vest and hefted him up onto his shoulder. "Sucks for you," Naruto said to the unconscious man. "Just another victim in a long line of them" It was finally time to scratch that itch.

With that, both Naruto and his clone took off in separate directions.

(_Scene Break)_

Naruto cracked his knuckles as he stood in the undisclosed location. He had already showered and prepped himself for what was to come. He stood ass naked, walking up to the Kumo Jonin who was still asleep. Naruto took a syringe from a nearby table and injected the Jonin in the thigh with the drug.

It was a simple drug, it would shoot all muscle control straight to hell and it would keep the man able to feel, able to scream.

As a precaution, Naruto had the man hung up, his hands bound in such a way that not even Naruto, for all of his escape techniques, could escape from it. Naruto turned to the large metal tub and turned the water off.

Two hundred liters of water had been poured into that tub. Naruto unrolled a scroll and unsealed all the vials of the chemicals. He inhaled as he touched the vials almost reverently.

Over four hundred kills had gone into this process, perfecting it until he had the proper solution.

Naruto began to slowly pour each and every one of the fifty-seven vials into the water, no more than a liter at most of each chemical. The water began to bubble as the chemicals began to mix and swirl together.

"Ung… where am I?" Naruto turned to his victim that was waking up. He smiled some at seeing the Jonin jerk at his restraints. "What the hell is going on?!" he shouted, his eyes opening and taking in his surroundings. "Let me go civilian, right this instant. I am a Jonin of Kumo and I demand to be released. Do you know who I am? I am-"

"I don't give a fuck who you are." Naruto said harshly cutting off the Jonin. "You're just another piece of shit to me that needs broken down and then flushed away with the rest."

"What is that?" the Jonin asked, finally noticing the bubbling fluid in the metal tub.

Naruto turned to his concoction with a smile. "Your death." He said with a serene smile. Naruto watched as the Jonin's leg twitched, a feeble attempt at trying to kick Naruto, but the drug had shot all muscle control to Hell.

Naruto brought the Jonin down and dragged the man over to the tub. "Be a good little Jonin. Scream for me won't you?" Naruto whispered the last before he tugged the Jonin into the water and backed away as the man began to thrash in the water, spilling some out of the tub.

In ten seconds, as the flesh was slowly being stripped from the man's body and his eyes were melting in their sockets, staining the fluid red, Naruto heard it.

He shuddered and fell to his knees, feeling that high, that rush like nothing else for no one else.

A Jonin was screaming in raw agony. It was everything that Naruto had hoped for when he had made a return appearance to be killing people.

Everything he hoped for and more. But he'd need another, and then another, and then another. He'd continue to kill, the beast inside wasn't satisfied.

And the beast wasn't a Biju.

(_Scene End)_

Mabui came awake in a comfortable bed, her head pounding and feeling like her skull was about to burst open.

She palmed her face for a moment, trying to recollect if she had been drinking some of C's special stash. It certainly felt like it with how hard her head was pounding. If the Raikage was smoking his cigar when she got to the office that morning, she was going to be thoroughly cranky for the rest of the day.

Mabui's eyes shot open and she was fully awake as it came to that she wasn't in her apartment. She glanced around, taking stock of her surroundings. There were some clothes off to one side, specifically designed to be worn by a female: a pair of loose, wispy pants and a vest like top that had ties between the two sides to contain her bust. She grabbed the clothes and slipped them on after thoroughly examining them.

She kept her tank top on under the vest though, no way was she showing off that much cleavage. Though, the vest was spacious enough for her to pull it off, making her wonder why she felt like she had seen the vest before.

She found a simple object that she could turn into a weapon. She grabbed the paper clip and bent it out as straight as she could. Her special technique could turn even a small object like a paperclip into a weapon of destruction.

Try surviving a piece of metal flying through your brain at the speed of light.

The room looked quite quaint, but she wondered what happened after she got drugged in the face by the blonde Shinobi. Unfortunately, a blonde wasn't going to be enough information to use to find the attacker of the Jonin.

Did the blonde even survive?

She exited the room to find her savior, sitting at a table, drinking tea and reading Kumo's newspaper while a female cooked some breakfast.

Mabui blinked as she realized her savior was Naruto. "Huh?" she managed out quite intelligently.

How did the blonde take down a Jonin? He was just a simple masseuse wasn't he? Mabui stepped forward, still holding the paperclip at the ready just in case.

"Good morning Mabui-san." Naruto said without even looking up from the newspaper. He scribbled something down. "I hope you slept well." He said quite cordially.

Mabui moved to take one of the vacant seats, slowly sitting down and watching the blonde. "How did you take down Higashi?" she asked. That was the important question of the day. He had been a slime ball, but he was a slime ball with talent.

His mental performances however had left much to be desired so he wasn't in a better position.

"Oh it was just a simple powder formed from a local flora. The petals, when dried and crushed and inhaled cause drowsiness in a matter of moments and also have the effects of a mild case of amnesia when the person awakes. That will go away in a little while. The seeds of the flora though I crush up for some of the oils I use at the shop. They give a slight, almost untraceable scent that causes a sort of relaxation in mammals. It's almost like catnip even."

Mabui blinked. That seemed like the sort of information that most Shinobi would know about a certain flower if that was their specialty. But a florist could also tell someone that if a person just asked. Still, she had a nagging sensation she was forgetting something that could be attributed to the amnesia properties of the flower.

"Mabui-san, this is my twin sister Naruko." Naruto said motioning to the blonde that still looked half-asleep even while cooking and she barely waved to Mabui.

"Not much of a morning person, is she?" Mabui asked. The blonde across from her however looked alert, awake, and aware. She wondered where he got the scars on his cheeks from. They almost looked like whiskers.

Maybe it was a clan marking since Naruko had them as well?

Naruto chuckled softly. In truth, his clone was just showing the tiredness he felt because it could get away with it. Its life was short; it would dispel and never be again. Yet at the same time it would be again and again and again. It led for a very interesting mindset for the Shadow Clones.

But Naruto had been awake most of the night, dealing with that piece of trash hadn't taken long but the cleanup took a bit. It was why he usually put up plastic first and everything. Still, there hadn't been enough time to plan ahead, and he had to shake off ten years of rust.

Besides, despite his tired state, he felt more alive than he had in a long time.

Originally, the killings served a purpose. The victims in Konoha had been prepared carefully with extreme care. Over time, Naruto kept enjoying the rush of the kill, the feeling of satisfaction as a plan came together. He enjoyed the screams the most; those were a delectable music to his ears that would forever stay with him.

The Jonin from the night before had been just to scratch the itch. He had gotten too eager for it. He had been too careless, too reckless.

It wouldn't happen again.

He had a method and he needed to slip back into it. His Sensei had always beaten it into him to make sure that there wasn't a track to remain. It wasn't as easy as the man made it sound however, not that Naruto minded.

He usually had a clone handle it and he'd get the memories back. The clone left even less evidence than he did after all.

"Would you like me to walk you home?" Naruto asked the dark-skinned woman across from him.

Mabui shook her head at that. She didn't feel as though the blonde should know where she lived. Not just yet, she still wanted to get her head on straight. She stood up. "Thank you for allowing me to borrow your clothes Naruko-san." She said with a slight bow. "And I must be going now, thank you Naruto-san, Naruko-san." She said before she headed out to leave.

It wasn't long until she got home and she got changed into her own clothes. She downed a cup of coffee and headed towards the Raikage's tower to get to work. As she was moving across the still slick rooftops, she started to remember more.

Such as her blonde savior hydroplaning across the rooftop using his chakra to accelerate past Higashi and then him making a clone before he grabbed Higashi himself.

Mabui sprinted up the steps towards the Raikage's office. Even if the man was impulsive, he'd be willing to hear her out first before any rash move was made.

"Raikage-sama." She said politely as she entered the room, seeing the Raikage at a weight bench, doing his daily repetition of bench presses.

"Mabui," A said as he put the weights up and sat up to look at his assistant. "You're a little late this morning." He said as he wiped his face with a towel.

The muscle bound Raikage showed his age somewhat in the moustache and the slight beard he had going on. She could also see some of the muscle tone slacking, even though five years ago even it would have been taunt and built. Still, A was a powerful Shinobi still and not down for the count yet, even though he was pushing sixty.

"I think we might have a spy in our midst." Mabui said seriously. She then launched into an explanation of the night's events to bring the Raikage up to speed, so that he could make whatever decision he wished.

(_Scene Break)_

Naruto was greeted to having new comers enter his shop: four Kumo ANBU black ops with a woman in the middle of their midst. She was blonde, with her hair drawn into a pony tail. She wore a full bodied Kumo Jonin outfit in a darker blue color than most he seen. She had cat like eyes and she even walked with a sort of grace. "Naruto-san, you are to be taken into custody and escorted to Raikage-sama's office. Resist and we are authorized to kill you if necessary."

Naruto arched a brow at the rather blunt statement. He knew he had been a bit sloppy the night before, but surely they hadn't found the Jonin he killed that quickly, did they? Maybe their water treatment facility was a bit more carefully watched than Konoha's?

"You wouldn't happen to mind if I closed up my shop first would you?" he asked, motioning around him to the doors opened and power running.

One of the ANBU was about to step forward when the blonde woman put a hand on their shoulder. "Not at all Naruto-san, but please do hurry. We are on something of a tight time schedule."

Naruto nodded and he moved away to lock everything up and to put everything away. He cut the power off except to the few things that needed to keep running. He then followed the ANBU and the woman out of his shop. He turned and locked it up, pulling the metal shutter down over the windows and doors and locking up fully.

"Lead the way." Naruto said with a slight smile on his face, not at all unnerved by the elite Shinobi around him.

(_Scene Break)_

Perhaps A was going for overkill somewhat, especially for one possible spy, but he really didn't have any knowledge of the term of overkill.

In his office, A had his brother Bee with him. Yugito would be there for the meeting. C was there, acting as his sensor so that if there was even a possible spike of chakra he'd know right away. Darui was there; ready to act as well in the Raikage's defense. Of course, Mabui was also there as his assistant.

Usually to calm his nerves, A would be lifting some weights or smoking a cigar. He worked hard to keep himself in damned good condition despite his smoking habits. But his father had smoked before him and A had picked up the habit. He was just glad that Bee didn't as well.

He was currently doing both. He was lifting a dumbbell in each arm while he chomped on a cigar. He had smoked for so much, for so long, that he could inhale and exhale the smoke without taking the cigar away from his mouth.

The biggest reason he had such nerves was the fact that Bee wasn't helping the situation with his damned rapping. He was about to give Bee the Iron Claw, but with the ANBU and Yugito moving to bring the possible spy to his office, he'd rather not.

"Raikage-sama," C said, speaking up. "They've entered the building. This guy has to be a Shinobi, his chakra levels dwarf Yugito-sama's and the ANBU's all combined. They're even larger than Bee-sama's."

A put his weight downs and rolled his shoulders a bit. He exhaled some more smoke before he put the cigar out. No need for that with the upcoming meeting. He shrugged on his Kage's robes to try and look a little bit more official, even if he was the least official of all the Kage.

The door was opened and Yugito followed the blonde in. A felt a sense of Déjà vu for a moment when the blonde sat in front of him on a chair, drawing one leg into his lap and sitting back casually. "Sup Raikage Ji-san." The blonde said.

A's eye started twitching, violently, as he wondered how fast he could break the little shit's neck. Old man was he? He was about to speak when Bee beat him to it.

"How sly, how chill, Mr. Nine is the man. Even I, the great Eight, must bow as a fan." Bee said, in his usual obnoxious nature.

The blonde's neck moved to the side slowly, like he was hearing nails grating down a chalk board. A could even see his teeth gritting.

Good.

Wait. Nine? Eight? A looked to his brother for a second before he looked to the suspected spy in their midst. "The Jinchuriki for the Kyuubi." He said absolutely dumbfounded. Why would Konoha send their Jinchuriki as a spy? Especially after that debacle a decade ago in regards to…

Yugito instantly had Senbon in her hands, with Darui and C having swords in their own, all pointed at Naruto as though he was going to turn into the Biju he contained.

The blonde Konoha born just sat there like he was some sort of Zen master.

The warmth that had usually been in his eyes, that several of his Shinobi had seen at his shop, was gone like a switch had been flicked. A was staring into a monster's eyes, a killer's eyes. Yet the blonde began to smirk, pleased. "You recognize me." Naruto said softly, leaning back into the chair a bit more. "What was that name Konoha gave me not long after my incarceration?"

"I fail to see how that is relevant." A said in regards to the blonde, motioning for his people to stand down. The blonde hadn't made any threatening moves yet.

"Oh come on!" Naruto said with that smirk. "Say it, call me it to my face, have a pair of balls unlike those tree huggers! I want to hear it! Come on!" A was about to open his mouth to say something more when the blonde cut him off. "This conversation isn't going anywhere until I hear it. I _Need_ to hear it. I'm at half-mast here and I won't get you to scream in agony, so I need that recognition of who I am. Say it."

A gritted his teeth for a moment. "The Stew Maker." He said, calling the blonde his epithet that he had obtained for his actions in Konoha. "Naruto Uzumaki, Konoha's Stew Maker."

Naruto leaned back in the chair, groaning out loudly with his eyes fluttering closed as though the rush of being acknowledged like that had caused him to have an orgasm. A personally would rather not know. He was dealing with a sociopath that his spies in Konoha had barely been in contact with.

Yet no one had gone missing since the blonde arrived in Kumo. It was most bizarre. And why had he saved Mabui the night before if this really was Konoha's Stew Maker?

Naruto looked at A with half-lidded eyes before they came into focus and he watched the older man that was close to three times his age. "Who sent you?" A asked watching the blonde. "Last I was aware, you were captured. You weren't killed but you fell off the grid completely. I assumed you had been incarcerated, yet here you are in my village."

Naruto smirked slowly. "You're right, I was captured. I was put into a hole in the ground for years, darkness became my friend. I had nothing but time." Naruto watched A as the smirk disappeared in an instant. "But I was let loose by someone that believes I'd destroy Kumo from the inside. A weapon without direction, a weapon that can just as easily hurt the one holding it. A true sociopath, shaped by the environmental factors around me."

"And what exactly do you plan to do?" A asked calmly putting his hands on the desk. He was leery about the blonde. Sociopaths had special needs that would have to be met, it was the only way they stayed functional.

If those needs were too steep and A couldn't recruit the Jinchuriki, he'd kill the blonde in a heartbeat. They'd still get the Kyuubi.

Naruto smiled languidly. "I haven't decided yet." He said, adjusting his legs so the other was in his lap. "But if your men keep glaring holes into me, I'll reduce them to sludge and flush them away like the shit they are. I really, really don't like it."

A watched the surprise on some of their faces. The threat was blunt and without hesitation. A felt like smirking a bit. "You'd really fight my men?"

Naruto began to laugh slowly shaking his head. "Not at all." Naruto said with a smirk. "I work through subterfuge, stealth, sleight of hand, misdirection. You don't even know if I'm the real Naruto sitting before you. I could just be a clone, designed to take the fall while the real one goes into hiding. Those cigars you smoke, they'd be so easy to lace with a drug that would render you unconscious. I'd then melt you down." Naruto turned to Yugito. "She smells like fish, it would be a simple task to sneak a bit of blowfish into her food, watch her die from that, even with a Biju inside of her." Naruto glanced to C. "He'd never feel me coming; I'd have his entire apartment set up with tags that would destroy him in moments." Naruto glanced to Bee. "Tap into his water main so that instead a highly potent acid comes out instead of water, I'd have to change my recipe but the point would be he'd be dead before his Biju could start healing him."

A felt a cold shiver run down his spine at the blatant threat and the simple ways that they could be killed. The blonde was right. They couldn't be constantly vigilant for any threats either; they'd just wear themselves out and become easier pickings.

Naruto returned his gaze to A. "But to tell the truth, I'm actually the real Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto brought his hand up to his mouth and he bit through his thumb, allowing blood to well up and show he was the real one. "I thought it would go over better that I came here instead of sending a clone."

A gave the blonde before him a begrudging amount of respect. "You were the one that sent us the Hyuuga parts." He said as though remembering something.

Naruto nodded his head slowly. "Amazing what a pair of gloves and a scalpel can do, isn't it? Though I must admit, I hadn't enjoyed taking Neji's testicles." Naruto said.

A leaned back. In front of him was a man that was willing to get his hands dirty. Very dirty. "That damned Uzumaki vengeful streak. Your mother damn near destroyed us in the last war." A said off handedly, thinking more to himself.

Naruto's eyes sharpened. "My mother?" he asked, his body ramrod straight.

A blinked a moment. What the hell good was the advice that the Namikaze gave him during the war if he hadn't given it to his own village? Then he felt like he had an actual chance of getting this sociopath under control. But he needed a few things clarified. "What happened to Higashi?" A felt like he knew, but he figured he should ask.

"Flushed away like the piece of shit he was." Naruto said simply. "Now… My mother. Talk."

"Boy, you're not old enough to be making demands of me." A said simply, his eyes turning sharp. "You proved your real, meaning your sitting in the middle of several of Kumo's best."

Naruto let out a low growl, digging his fingers into his palms a bit before he released his hands.

"Now," A rubbed his chin. "I want you as one of Kumo's own. Your Biju would make for a good weapon; I'm sure with what you know of it and what we can teach you, you'd be a power player in no time."

Naruto watched A for a moment. "No." he said, getting A to snap out of his reverie of Kumo being the strongest with two top tier Biju on their side. "I won't get strong using my Biju. I won't be limited to such a crutch."

A blinked slowly, trying to understand the blonde. "But you'd easily be an S-ranked Nin." He said. It was the aspiration of many Shinobi everywhere, to be that strong.

At that point, your bounty didn't matter. You could blow through most of the competition.

Naruto snorted. "No, I'd be an S-ranked Nin with a handicap." He said. Naruto shifted his eyes to Yugito and then to Bee. "An A-ranked Kunoichi and an S-ranked Shinobi. But where would they be without their Biju?" Naruto asked.

A hadn't really thought about it that way. How strong were Yugito and Bee without the use of their Biju? It surely wasn't that big of a difference, was it?

Naruto shrugged. "Besides, I've never spoken to the Kyuubi. Not once. I know of it, but I don't wish to speak with it. Let it lie I say, when I die, it'll escape and be free."

A had a few more question, but only one more was pressing that he wanted Mabui to hear. "Why did you save Mabui?"

Naruto glanced to the woman who had been silent and sat there, poised and perfect even though A knew she could be even more dangerous than Darui and C put together. "Let's just say that Kumo has some pretty women and leave it at that."

A watched the blonde as he stayed watching his assistant for a time. He had saved her because she was a good looking woman? A wasn't sure how to really respond to that. Instead, he wrote something down and passed it off to Mabui. "I need those two files." He told her. He then looked to Naruto. "I want you as a Kumo Shinobi." He said.

"I'm not using Kyuubi." Naruto said firmly. "I'd rather try my luck at being an Iwa Shinobi than to have to use the Kyuubi."

A narrowed his eyes at the blonde in front of him. "Then what good are you if you won't use your Biju?" he asked.

"It's my understanding you don't have T and I specialist." Naruto said with a mix between a grin and a smirk. It was something that actually unnerved A slightly.

(_Scene Break)_

Naruto found himself with a Kumo headband tied around his arm. He was sort of on probationary status. Well, he had a simple task set before him and then he could keep the headband. If he didn't they were going to do something else for the blonde.

Naruto wasn't looking forward to it. A was even withholding information on his parents, just to make the blonde even more determined.

The test was simple. Break a particularly stubborn Iwa spy.

Unfortunately, said spy had been Kumo's top interrogation specialist for a few years before anyone found out. He had snuck in with the tradition from the Sandaime to Yondaime Raikage. He rose through the ranks and got to a position where it was hard to touch him to find concrete evidence.

Naruto was given free reign to make the man break. They had him in lockup, which was good enough for Naruto. He was expecting the man to put up a fight, in fact Naruto wanted the man to put up a fight.

Naruto had requested a large tub that could hold about three hundred liters of water. He'd only need two hundred liters of water, but the point was he was going to be throwing in a body and his chemicals.

Naruto had the Iwa Nin put into some wooden stocks, purposely under a leak pipe. The water hit the Iwa Nin right on the neck every few seconds. His hands were even bound so that he couldn't even make the simplest of hand seals.

Naruto dragged a wooden chair to place in front of the Nin. He then sat down, his chest facing the back of the chair while he was looking at the Nin. "Sup piece of Shit." Naruto said, making the Iwa Nin look up to him. "I'm your replacement, and the guy that's going to wring you like a sponge for information."

The Iwa Nin rolled his eyes. "I'd love to see you try." He said. "I practically invented Kumo's interrogation techniques. Nice touch with the water though, that's rather annoying and I've only been here twenty minutes."

Naruto smiled gleefully. "Ooh, you have spirit. That's good. That's really good. You see, we can do this one of two ways. The first, you can just tell me everything about Iwa that you know, answer all the questions I could possibly want to know the answer to and then you're free to go. You can't return to Iwa and you can't stay in Kumo, but you know…" Naruto shrugged.

The Iwa Nin snorted. "And what's option two? I'm fully capable of withstanding anything you can throw my way Junior."

Naruto shrugged. "The second way is the fun way, my way in fact." Naruto stood up and with the use of some clones he brought the tub of water over to the Nin. He then began to pour in the chemicals, letting the Nin see the water bubbling.

"What is that?" the Iwa Shinobi asked cautiously. He hadn't really used chemicals in his line or work, choosing to instead use more physical and mental work.

Naruto look to the caustic water. "That's a very potent acid. It'll render you down to a red sludge in less than ten minutes." Naruto clicked on a radio. "Bring him in." he told someone.

Naruto was then brought a prisoner who was going to die anyways and one that didn't have anything of value to Kumo. Naruto walked over and injected the prisoner with his drug of choice. "A slight sedative," he told the Iwa Nin. "It'll keep him from being able to move, but he will still feel everything that is done to him."

Naruto then took the prisoner over to the pool and put him in, letting him sink to the water.

The Iwa Nin was forced to watch as the prisoner squirmed and struggled, even as his skin began to melt and get reduced down to goo. Ten minutes the blonde watched, pleased with himself even. The Iwa Nin felt like he was going to be sick personally. It took a lot of effort to kill a human being in the way that the blonde had done. Mostly mental.

The Iwa Nin however swallowed slowly and set his jaw in defiance. "I will gladly die." He said. "It will be better than what Kitsuchi-sama will do to me."

Naruto shook his head slowly. "I won't kill you though." He told the man. "First, I'll dip your legs down into the acid, up to about here." Naruto used a kunai to slice into the man's upper thighs. "Then your arms to about here." He sliced into the Shinobi's upper arm. "You'll be forced to crawl like the dog you are.

"Then I'll cut out your tongue, cut off your lips, wrench out your teeth. I have free reign. I don't have to kill you. I can simply make an example of you to another person that would tell me just as juicy information." Naruto said stroking the man's face slowly, about to savor what he'd do to the man if he didn't give him the information that A wanted. "I'll cut your nose off next; let you watch as all of it melts down into nothing. Then I'll gouge out an eye; let you watch it dissolve in thirty seconds, then the next eyes."

"And let me guess, my ears would be next." The Iwa Shinobi said putting on a brave face.

"Wrong. I wouldn't touch your ears at all. I'd let you keep them. Then I'd personally, hand deliver you back to Iwa with a note telling your Yondaime Tsuchikage thank you, thanking him for sending you over to us so that we could drag information out of you." Naruto rolled his shoulders a bit. "You wouldn't be able to tell him otherwise. Kitsuchi would be livid. He's not quite the fence sitter that Onoki was, is he? He'd probably disfigure you even more." Naruto leaned in closer. "The people of Iwa would ask about the Thing walking their streets. You wouldn't even be able to take your own life, unable to climb high enough, unable to bite off your own tongue."

Naruto leaned into the man's ear, careful to make sure the man couldn't bite him. "You'd be that 'Thing'. You'd hear the people whisper about you; you'd hear the children cry in terror whenever you move passed. You'd hear the disgust in their voices. Even a Jinchuriki would be of higher status than you."

The Iwa Nin was shaking, staring at the bloody, bubbling acid in front of him. And he'd be alert and aware, unable to fight the blonde while it was performed on him. That alone terrified him more than anything. "And if I give you the information."

Naruto shrugged. "You get to disappear; Raikage Ji-san doesn't seem to have a problem with just letting you go. Probably cause he knows you can't go back to Iwa."

"I'll talk." The Iwa Nin said. "I'll talk, just don't, don't do that to me." He said.

Naruto pouted a moment before sighing. "Alright, fine." He pulled a notebook out and started to get some answers.

It was a shame; he had never made a Thing before.

(_Scene Break)_

Naruto returned home later that night, having made a clone to rub at his shoulders while he looked over at his guest. He had been surprised when Mabui came over to his place. He seriously doubted that he had made a good impression on the mocha skinned woman, especially considering that he had essentially lied to her and her entire village.

But apparently saving someone from an attempted rape and kidnapping would win him some points.

Naruto was going through the exact details of what his tenure in Kumo would be like. He was expected to pick up a blade and learn at least the very basics of a Kenjutsu style. Everyone Chunin and above had a Kenjutsu style and Naruto was coming in as a Tokubetsu Jonin so he was expected to have some Kenjutsu.

Taijutsu was also a must; it was about as heavily stressed as the Kenjutsu was. But he needed to be able to actually fight in case his usual methods didn't cut it. It was sort of interesting really to be having to actually train rather than the staying in shape he did for the past ten years.

Naruto wasn't allowed to prey upon the populace of Kumo. It made the beast inside of his head snarl, knowing that it wanted the hunt instead of being hand fed. Naruto would be given prisoners to satisfy that itch, but he'd have to supply his own chemicals for the acid.

The only time that the Raikage would fit that bill would be if he was having Naruto use his own brand of interrogation on a person.

Naruto would also be a more in-village based Shinobi, a sort of reserve duty Shinobi. That was partially for Naruto's benefit that it was in since he wanted to continue working his store.

Kumo didn't make their women like anywhere else in the Elemental Nations, and Naruto had already given Mabui and Samui a rubdown. They were probably his two favorites so far, even if he hadn't been doing it for very long.

He'd politely keep that to himself though.

He got to also access Kumo's records, what his clearance would allow at least, for any information he could dig up regarding the one man he wanted to kill. Naruto didn't even know his first Sensei's name. All he remembered was the man was cold, calculating, impatient, had red hair, and could make Naruto throw himself around like a ragdoll.

The fact Naruto could freely look that sort of information up was the only reason he was shanghaied into accepting the rank.

Still, he'd be working closely with Samui over the next few weeks, dragging his non-existent Kenjutsu abilities up to par with what was going to be expected of him.

And Mabui would be helping him with his Elemental Composition.

Naruto had to actually put some work into being a Shinobi. Before he had sort of just coasted along on his intelligence and his stealth. Still, Naruto was already getting away with calling the Raikage an old man, best not push too much on the workload.

Naruto was also going to be able to continue his seal work though. Kumo was surprisingly proficient at sealing techniques, even if they didn't have anyone on Jiraiya's level. Sealing the Nibi and Hachibi up as many times as they did must have been beneficial to them in that regard.

It all wanted to make Naruto bash his skull into the table. Between all the work, his clones would have to run the shop and that wasn't necessarily a good idea. They tended to be fickle and have no self-preservation instincts.

He couldn't have them work on his Kenjutsu and Element Composition either; they'd probably piss off Samui and Mabui just so they didn't have to do any of the work.

At least, he couldn't have them work on it without supervision.

His damn clones were fickle.

The only time they took anything seriously was when they were going to be killing someone. And then they took an absolute glee into it. They did everything perfectly as well, which made things even better for Naruto. He used to send his clones to do it because they left even less evidence behind than he did.

Naruto motioned the clone over to Mabui as he raised his head to look to the mocha skinned Kunoichi. Damned clone of his really had no self-preservation. Naruto's only saving grace had been that Mabui had been unconscious the entire time. His damned clone had copped a feel of the Kumo beauty and it made things very difficult to be in the same room with her.

"Raikage-sama wants you to sign that form, indicating you understand it and its contents Naruto-sama." Mabui said politely, looking to the form in Naruto's hands in regard to the stipulations of him becoming a Kumo Shinobi.

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose. Ever since they found out he was a Jinchuriki, he was placed onto some sort of pedestal. The only ones that didn't call him '-Sama' was Yugito, Bee, and A. It grated Naruto's nerves something horrible. "Can you please not call me 'Naruto-sama'?" he asked. "It makes me feel old. Just Naruto-san is fine, or even Naruto."

Mabui regarded the blonde for a moment. "Very well Naruto-san, if that's what you wish."

Naruto rubbed the bridge of his nose a little bit more. He'd keep working at Mabui. He had enough problems having to accept orders from a Kage at the moment. Naruto had his own tendencies that would make things difficult

He also had a serious problem with all figures of authority.

Being a sociopath made things really difficult sometimes. Especially since the Raikage wanted him to do some actual 'upstanding' work. Bah, Naruto didn't really care. He'd rather do his own thing and he'd do his own thing. Still, being in Kumo would keep Konoha from coming after him and busting his chops.

The rank of Tokubetsu Jonin was a more a charity also. Naruto knew he didn't have the strength or speed to really back up the title. Then there was the fact many of Konoha's elites would still chew him up like gum and spit him out, at least in a fair fight.

If he dictated the pace of the fight, let them bring it. He'd come out on top because he knew how to dictate it.

Naruto shook his head and began to sign the form when he heard Mabui gasp and then give a slight groan. His clone was rubbing her shoulders and her head slumped forward a bit, obviously enjoying the attention to the stiff muscles.

It reminded Naruto that he'd have to give her a massage often. She seemed to like them quite a bit. And despite his sociopathic tendencies, he was still a straight man.

And Mabui was hot.

"There, all done." He told the woman, sliding over the papers over to her.

Mabui felt the clone's hands on her shoulders and she arched into the touches a little bit more. She had one last thing to give on the Raikage's orders, but it was still hard to focus as the blonde's hands touched her shoulders.

She knew she should be more alert around a sociopath, but damned was it hard to do so when said sociopath had such wonderful hands that he had no problem putting to use for her benefit.

It also reminded her o her dream, which was a bad thing.

She took the papers and quickly sealed them up, shooting them off to the Raikage so that he could get them. Her technique was a rather handy thing to have, especially in instances where she was getting a massage for free.

"Our last order of business." Mabui said with a slight groan as he worked out yet another knot that she just couldn't get to. "Your parents." She said and tossed Naruto two folders. "Mother and father."

Naruto probably couldn't have been more surprised if Mabui had reached across the table and smashed his face into it. He had honestly thought that the Raikage had been bluffing when he said he knew of his mother, and yet he had two folders right in front of him, detailing information regarding not just his mother, but his father as well.

He opened Kushina Uzumaki's folder and paused for a moment. Red heads caused that itch to act up. His sensei had that scarlet red hair. It took all of Naruto's willpower to beat down the feeling, the desire to do something painful to someone.

Still, his mother had been a beautiful woman. And if he could say so, a perfect ten as far as women were concerned. Still, he wasn't going to fantasize about his mother. Even he had standards.

He might dream of meeting the woman though.

He began to read of her extensive record in Kumo. Kumo's spies in Konoha were rather thorough, even if the information was old. Kumo had tried to kidnap his mother, something he wasn't very surprised about in the slightest if he was honest with himself.

She was also a Seal Master of at least A's level. Though, Naruto's suspected that she had been on a whole different level than what Kumo was led to believe.

His mother had also been rather skilled in Kenjutsu, in a style that Kumo wanted something fiercely. It was the Uzumaki clan style, something that was brutal to even just train with. But apparently it made them something of a monster to experience on the battlefield, especially since most Ninjutsu and Genjutsu were useless against the Uzumaki seals.

She also had some sort of special chakra, or was believed to have it, that she could manipulate into chains. Kumo had some sort of uneducated theory that Kushina Uzumaki was also the second Jinchuriki to the Kyuubi.

Naruto wasn't sure how true that statement was so he wasn't sure what to make of it.

The blonde scratched his head for a moment as he closed Kushina's file, his mother's file.

Naruto was almost worried about what he'd see for his father's file. He knew it wasn't exactly his fault that he ended up a sociopath. That was sort of the definition of a sociopath. He behaved outside the behavioral norms of society due to social and environmental factors. As opposed to a psychopath which was to be believed that it got some of its factors from genetics as well, not just social and environmental factors.

Naruto was sure he was a sociopath because of his first Sensei It hadn't been long, but Naruto had ended up picking up some of his traits in a way.

But it made him beg the question: Who was his father to Konoha? Would Naruto be able to handle the fact if his father had been someone important? Or was his father some lucky puissant of a Shinobi that had some skills to be able to catch Kumo's ire enough to warrant a file on him?

Despite his actions in murdering hundreds of people, Naruto still wanted to hear that one phrase that would bring his walls crashing down in an instant. It was the one phrase every child wanted to hear from their adult figure in their life.

He wanted to hear his parents say that they loved him, that they were proud of him.

It was a moot point really, his parents were deceased.

With a sigh, Naruto moved his mother's file away from the top and froze. He felt like a rabbit, caught in the gaze of a larger predator. The tab on the folder, the one that had been hidden because of Kushina's folder, read a name Naruto had never possible conceived he'd read for his supposed father.

_Minato Namikaze._

(_Scene Break)_

Mabui entered into A's office, seeing that he was at work on the paperwork that all Kage had to deal with in one way or another. She was still reeling herself about the revelation of their newest addition's heritage.

Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki had a son in one Naruto Uzumaki.

Many Kunoichi all over the Elemental Nations, except in Iwa for obvious reasons, would admit to the fact that Minato Namikaze had been a handsome man. Strong and powerful, he was an ideal Shinobi to many. Many of those that had met the man, even on the field of battle, would say there was just a sort of look to Minato.

Yet he had gotten with that Uzumaki woman and had Naruto

Naruto wasn't Minato Namikaze. Not even close. Mabui would say that freely. He lacked the technical finesse and the power that Minato had. Not even talking about the raw speed considering that Minato was the only man to move faster than A.

But Mabui had seen the different sides of Naruto Uzumaki more. He had a sort of feral ferocity to him, as though you were being watched by a predator. It was a touch unnerving to her, feeling that sensation like he was sizing her up. But Mabui believed it was something of an automatic defense of his.

Naruto Uzumaki was alone in this world and it was killing something inside of him. Mabui just couldn't understand what could give those sort of eyes to someone like Naruto. And he had been adamant about using his Biju, like using it was some sort of weakness.

It made little sense to Mabui. Bee used the Hachibi, Yugito used the Nibi. Jinchuriki used their Biju's combat prowess. That was what she had always come to believe.

But it also came back to Naruto being alone. He had gotten to where he was at by a measure of strength that could truly be considered his own. The Kyuubi would literally be inside of Naruto's head. It would be privy to all of Naruto's secrets, all of his insecurities, and it would likely play on them if for no other reason than to try and influence Naruto into using more of the Kyuubi's power.

He wasn't using the Kyuubi because he didn't want to have someone inside of his head like that.

Mabui also remembered what it felt like having Naruto's hands sliding over her back, fingers pressing into her skin and working the muscles out. He had been tender, gentle. It was almost like he had desired Mabui and was in awe at touching her.

Was it some sort of respect towards women? Did he desire her, even lustfully, and if so why? Naruto barely knew Mabui. Yet to some of the other women she had talked to, women specifically, Naruto hadn't been so… tender.

He had been polite, thorough, and as gentle as possible with others, sure. But to Mabui's knowledge she had been the only one that the blonde had been almost intimate with as he rubbed her back.

Why? What had made her get singled out from all the clients that Naruto had? Trying to get inside the head of Naruto Uzumaki was not an easy task and she knew that over the next few weeks as she worked with him to get his elemental composition down pact, she'd hopefully get more information.

Mabui paused in her musings as she saw Samui. She stepped out of A's office to go to the busty blonde. "Samui-san, can I ask you something a moment?" she asked.

"Of course." Samui said, turning on the ball of her feet to look to Mabui. "What can I help you with?"

"You've heard of the recent developments regarding Naruto-san, correct? Did you get a massage from him before that?" Mabui asked.

Samui blinked a little bit. "Yes, to both accounts. I was somewhat surprised to find out that he was actually like that."

Mabui nodded. "How would you describe the massage, if I may?" Mabui asked.

Samui paused, looking down. She could feel heat on her cheeks, undoubtedly a light pink blush dusting over her cheeks. '_Oh damn, that's not cool. I'm blushing. Not cool at all. Just don't let that idiot Atsui see me.' _"It had been something else." Samui said.

Mabui pressed forward, ignoring the blushing Samui. "But how would you best describe it? Just between us."

Samui glanced up, looking around for anyone to hear her. "If I had to describe it in one word? Without the use of cool? It was… almost intimate, professional definitely but also intimate." Samui said.

Mabui frowned slightly at that. The puzzle that was Naruto Uzumaki was deepening and she wasn't sure where to begin to solve it. She prided herself on being quite good at mind games. But Naruto was a completely different puzzle.

It was like he was a three dimensional puzzle and she had only been given pieces to one side, and then not even all the pieces. It would drive her nuts in the coming weeks.

She always did like a challenge though.

End

A/N: **And the plot thickens! Red heads almost set Naruto off on a rampage, he clearly has a thing for Samui and Mabui, but is it subconscious or a conscious decision? His clone has copped a feel on one of said beauties.**

**Oh and Naruto is a Kumo Shinobi at this point. This story might actually be a little longer than the Butcher was but… I don't know.**

**It still won't be anything insanely massive. Not enough for me to completely work like that.**

**So where are the Akatsuki if Yugito was still alive?**

**All that will be answered and more in the next coming chapters of the Stew Maker.**

**Hunter Berserker Wolf, saying peace.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Naruto was usually not one for brutal violence. He was not one for bludgeoning his victims. He killed cleanly, cruelly maybe, but when he killed his victims they were reduced to goo.

When Naruto found out about his father though, when he learned that Minato Namikaze, the fucking Yellow Flash, had been his father, Naruto was gripped with an unbridled rage that he just could not control. He knew if one of his usual tics, redheads or sensei beating on their students, Naruto would snap and kill someone without mercy.

This led him to being put into a prison cell with eighteen criminals that were of no use to Kumo anymore.

Fourteen were already dead, gripped by his rage he beat upon them without mercy, throwing them against the walls, the ceiling, and even the floor. They were not clean kills, and the last four were trying to put Naruto down before he put them down.

Even with one arm hanging limply at his side, injured from a prison shiv, Naruto was decimating them. Yet his eyes were still bright blue, not a single glimpse of crimson. Naruto refused to use the Kyuubi's chakra; he refused to get yet another addiction that he'd have to settle.

Naruto grabbed one of the remaining three and ripped his arm off, Naruto's booted foot on the man's chest as he yanked with all of his rage and fury. He surpassed his body's self-imposed limits to do so. He then began to beat the man's head in with the man's own arm.

When he felt the splatter of brain matter, Naruto chucked the arm down and then tackled another and started beating on him. Even as the two attacked, trying to strike Naruto or do something to choke the blonde, Naruto was ruthless and without hesitation or mercy.

Stained crimson, Naruto grabbed the last one and ripped his throat out with his bare fingers, digging his hand back into the gaping wound to grab at the man's spine and ripping two of the cervical vertebrae out.

Naruto turned on the last man and summoned three clones. They beat the man down and each grabbed a limb. Naruto grabbed a leg and with his clones they began to yank until the man broke, joins, ligaments, tendons, muscles, and the skin all tearing in ways it shouldn't have.

Naruto ran a hand through his hair, staining the golden blonde locks red for a moment before he flicked his hands. He dispelled his clones and headed out of the cell. "Thank you." He said politely to the ANBU that had been stationed there.

Let it be known that Naruto did not take what he perceived as a betrayal lightly.

Naruto let go of his anger though. It wouldn't serve him anymore and he got his venting mostly out of his system with the brutal slaughter of the prisoners. It wouldn't do well if he started to kill the populace of Kumo. Even being the Kyuubi's container, Naruto wasn't some sort of invincible super Ninja.

(_Scene Break)_

Tsunade clenched the sake cup she was holding tightly as she read the reports she had from her own spies in Kumo. She couldn't believe this; Danzo had assured her several times over the past decade since she took over for Sarutobi. Danzo had assured her that Naruto would be a weapon against Kumo, not for Kumo.

Tsunade was no fool. With the Akatsuki scare that had went to the ground a few years back with the death of Pain and Konan at Jiraiya's hands, the retrieval of Itachi Uchiha, the disappearance of Zetsu, Kisame and the Tobi character that Itachi informed them had a Sharingan eye, Tsunade knew it was only going to be a matter of time before the villages acted up once more.

Iwa wasn't as too much of a consequence, what with their Tsuchikage dying off. Onoki had been a pain in her ass and a stubborn gnome. At least Kitsuchi was more reasonable to an extent. Less likely to sit on the fence of something. Were Konoha and Iwa allies? Fuck no. But they weren't at a cease fire like they had been since Minato had danced on their proverbial testicles.

Suna was still recovering, what with their Daimyo cutting their forces down then mysteriously dying from a poison that suspiciously looked like something a Kusa Nin would use. The current Daimyo was building the forces and giving Suna more missions, as per the treaty Suna and Konoha rehashed out. The Godaime Kazekage was a much better diplomat than the previous one had been. Willing to stand his ground, but also willing to swallow his pride.

Kiri was again inconsequential. They knew that Konoha wouldn't attack them, but they wouldn't attack Konoha either. It was too dangerous for most Kiri Nin to take their fights to the land. They were water based specialists, so that meant they were better off around lakes, rivers, streams, the ocean, wherever they could have a lot of water. That and Mei Terumi had mellowed out a bit over the years, partially from having a husband if rumors were to be believed. Some lucky kid with glasses that was a Seven Swordsmen.

Orochimaru had been livid at the death of Sasuke several years ago, and it had made Tsunade's former teammate sloppy. Especially when Itachi had led the ANBU unit that finally took Orochimaru out. Tsunade and Jiraiya had already raised a glass in honor of their teammate, the one before the darkness took hold.

All of that left Kumo.

Kumo rivaled Konoha in size and more importantly troops. Konoha boasted an impressive seven thousand Shinobi. Most of that were Genin and Chunin though. Kumo boasted around eight thousand, with a heavier sprinkling of Jonin and Chunin than Konoha had. Still, Konoha had more A-rank and higher Shinobi than Kumo.

If the two villages went to war, it had been a bit of a coin flip who would win in a straight on slug fest, no pun intended. But if Konoha went after Kumo and Kumo after Konoa, Iwa and Suna would step in, then Kusa and Taki.

It was a shitstorm waiting to happen and Tsunade frankly didn't want that shitstorm happening during her reign as Hokage.

Akatsuki had been planning, for a while, on how to get the Nibi out of Yugito Nii. They even had the proper duo to go on and do it. When Naruto had killed Hidan and made Kazuku go to ground and hid, he had thrown a wrench into those plans according to Itachi.

Then Sasuke had died and Itachi was forced to be recalled so that he could continue the clan that he slaughtered.

Sasori of the Red Sands had acted strangely when word got to him about Naruto being the 'Stew Maker' of Konoha, and had left the organization. Deidara had gone with. Despite their bickering, the two were both artists of their own trades and understood one another to an extent.

That left Kisame, Zetsu, Pain, Konan, and Tobi: five out of ten of the S-class Shinobi that had made up Akatsuki. Then three years after they had caught Naruto, Jiraiya seemed to snap when he found out about the truth of Konan and Nagato. Instead of trying to just stop the pain, Jiraiya had completely taken off all manner of kid gloves and destroyed the two.

A fair portion of Ame had died during the relentless assault, especially with Jiraiya blowing up a few of the buildings, that much steel and glass raining down on innocent bystanders. It was not Jiraiya's proudest moment. He had come back a broken man.

Five years ago he had vanished to the Mountain home of the Toads, he hadn't come back yet.

This left a problem. Kumo had two Jinchuriki that had the most 'tails' out of all the villages. Danzo had worn on her for ten years, ten years of effort to get her to let him release their Jinchuriki on Kumo. He knew a sociopath better than anyone else, especially considering he was one.

Finally she had relented, but she did not change Naruto's kill on sight order.

She had wanted Naruto to weaken Kumo, enough that she might be able to start having more loyal black ops members slip in and start some work. She wasn't a war hawk like Danzo, but she understood that some things needed to be done.

If she could weaken Kumo enough to tip the tide of battle into Konoha's favor if they ever went to war, then the Raikage would be less likely to want a fight with Konoha.

But Danzo's plan had failed miserably. Naruto had become a member of Kumo's ranks. Not only that, but he seemed to be working closely with one of the Raikage's brother's students and the Raikage's assistant. She had no idea what sort of fighting force that the blonde would become if given a longer time.

It meant she needed to get someone in Kumo to drop Naruto as quickly as possible. But it also had to be someone that could get the drop on him that Kumo wouldn't recognize so easily. "Shizune, get me Asuma." Tsunade told her first apprentice.

Asuma was distinctive in his appearance, but he had done stealth ops before where he was able to change his appearance. She just hoped he could take Naruto out before the Chunin Exams in Kumo.

(_Scene Break)_

Naruto held his sword loosely, swinging it slowly. It had been two slow months in Kumo, being trained from the bottom up. Samui and Mabui were patient instructors, and he worked with Mabui more often than he did Samui, but he was getting better in his opinion.

It turned out he had a Wind Affinity, something that A had completely shut down about for a good ten minutes. Most people in Kumo had a Lightning affinity, who'd have thought?

Still, Mabui made sure his head didn't get too big. She threatened to tape him down to a chair and force him to listen to all twelve volumes of Bee's rapping. It had been enough of a threat that even his usual rambunctious clones had paused in absolute terror.

They would not suffer their creator through that sort of hell.

But today would be the first day he sparred against Samui using his sword. It turned out his sword was wielded by his grandfather during the time of the fall of Uzu. It was also inlaid with seals to assist in wind manipulation.

Naruto still couldn't cut a waterfall in half, but he was at least capable of cutting a rock in two with his wind.

Naruto held his sword loosely in his hand, staring down his fellow blonde who he had given dozens of massages to over the two months he had been in Kumo. He was finally deemed capable enough not to cut her too much and to be able to fight well enough not to get overwhelmed right away.

"Begin whenever you wish Naruto." Samui said. Naruto had also managed to get the cold woman to stop adding '-san' or '-Sama' to his name. He liked to think he was getting closer to her, especially since they had hung out a few times.

She had, of course, asked several questions about his sociopathic tendencies, which he had answered to the best of his abilities. It wasn't something easy to talk about but it was sort of something that he needed to talk to someone about so that they would understand a little bit. Mabui had asked questions as well, making it easier to answer Samui.

Naruto dashed in, his sword held low and loose, the tip scraped along the grass a bit before he came up. Steel rang against steel, the ringing of blades clashing as the two danced over the field. Naruto had the reach, having a Katana to Samui's tanto, compounding upon his own longer reach. But Samui had the skill, the speed, and the experience.

She twisted away, moving his katana skywards as she stepped into his guard. She struck him at the same time he struck her.

His palm strike was to her gut, where her elbow caught him strongly on the jaw. Naruto slid back a little bit as Samui did the same. Naruto rubbed his jaw a little bit.

Samui didn't rub her stomach, but she gave a slight smirk. "Everyone gets one Naruto."

Naruto's eye twitched slightly at the phrase. She was just a little too confident. But that could also be attributed to the fact that everything he knew about swordsmanship, she already knew. Hell, she had taught him everything.

With that in mind, Naruto rushed her again, he kept his balance and he used harder strokes. His katana was stronger than her tanto, meant for larger swings while the tanto was more for up close and personal work. Still, she didn't falter.

Naruto felt his arms get cut, his shoulder get sliced. His legs were laid open. She was just too fast and too maneuverable for him to get a second solid blow in; her hair still looked perfectly prim and proper two.

Soon, Naruto was on his back, her sword at his throat and his own under her foot.

"You need to start planning ahead Naruto. You must always be five steps ahead of your opponent, even in a spar." Samui said before she sheathed her tanto and offered a hand.

Naruto took the offered hand and stood up with her help. He watched her slide her foot underneath the blade of his sword and kick it up so he could catch it. Naruto then sheathed the sword shaking his head. "I'm going to have my ass beat a lot more." He said, knowing it. Naruto then pulled out a pocket watch. "I have an appointment with Mabui; she'll hurt me if I'm not there in person." He said and quickly headed out towards the edge of the training field.

Naruto snapped his fingers suddenly. "Oh!" he said suddenly, turning around and walking backwards. "Check your sash." He said and turned back around. "Five steps ahead isn't a plan, twenty-five steps ahead is. The first attack is always a feint."

Samui felt at her sash holding her outfit closed. She felt something and drew it out. From the folds of the sash, she saw a slip of paper the size of an explosive tag. On one side it said 'Boom' while on the other was an inactive explosive matrix. Samui stared, realization gripping her as she had essentially been 'killed.'

She then made a quick beeline for the Raikage's tower, entering A's office when she got permission. "Raikage-sama, you wanted a report on Naruto Uzumaki's abilities once I had finally faced him in a spar." She said, reminding her leader of the reason for her visit.

"Proceed." A said as he squatted with the bar full of weights. His breathing was slow, steady, as he did his daily workout. "Does he have any hope for Kenjutsu?"

"That is… debatable Raikage-sama. After a single spar, I cannot accurately give a basis of his abilities in Kenjutsu, but from what I have seen, he really does not know much. He might have to work with Bee-sensei during the time that I am out of the village." Samui said. "But as for his abilities, he is good at what he knows. He knows stealth, misdirection, sleight of hand, and other unorthodox tactics that have been considered the 'bread and butter' of being a Shinobi."

A set the bar up and exhaled, wiping his face with the towel as he thought about what the fair-skinned Kunoichi was saying. "What do you mean? What did he do?"

Samui bit the tip of her tongue. She was a Jonin and so it was hard to swallow her pride to say what she was about to say. "He essentially 'killed' me in the first thirty seconds of our spar." She handed A the inactive explosive tag. "During out first clash of blades, he struck me with a palm strike and I hit him with an elbow to the jaw. Somehow, he managed to slip that into my sash."

A looked down to the tag. It was a very good make. If it had been active, Naruto would have blown Samui clean in half with the tag, and not in half at the waist. He had seen such tags previously, used mostly by an Uzumaki Seal Specialist.

Messy stuff and guaranteed a kill.

He wasn't sure how he felt about Naruto's fighting style. A's entire fighting style, his entire mindset, went against the way Naruto did things. If you were strong, you cultivated that strength and kept it for as long as possible. Naruto was all about cloak and dagger, all about doing things that would take someone down with minimal effort.

A just wasn't sure how to feel about that.

A sort of wanted to fight the blonde himself like he had Naruto's father.

_(Scene Break)_

Naruto slid his hand over Mabui's finely sculpted legs. All of her running back and forth for A, up and down the steps, had definitely worked out for her. His thumbs and fingers pressed in along her thigh, rubbing the muscle and working the soothing oil into her skin. Mabui made some soft sounds at his work as he took it slowly.

Fuck, what would it be like to have those legs wrapped around his waist?

Naruto prided himself on being professional when he gave a massage. But whenever he was around Samui and Mabui's mostly naked body, he just had problems focusing like he should.

Naruto heard a knock on the door before it opened, showing the Naruko clone with Samui. "Sorry boss, but she insisted that you're the one to give her a massage. Something about losing the sparring session. She's refusing me and you know I can't undo the transformation." Naruko was still expected to work the front counter.

Naruto sighed softly, his eyebrow twitching slightly as he worked on Mabui's legs a bit more. "Alright then, bring in a second table. Samui, go ahead and get ready." Naruto said.

Mabui felt some of her relaxation go at the brief conversation. She watched Samui move past the table towards the changing screen. While the two had gotten closer over the past two months, their love of Naruto's massages bringing them together, they hadn't crossed such a line to intrude on each other's massage.

Mabui narrowed her eyes at Samui's slight smirk, it was a ghost of one and meant for Mabui to see before it fell away. She just had to say something to the blonde woman.

Mabui had recently told Samui that she had started to develop feelings for the blonde man. It had been a mistake that was coming back to bite her, because it was obvious that Samui had also developed feelings for the man. And why wouldn't either of the two women develop feelings for him?

Being a Shinobi meant you looked at how successful of a Shinobi a person was, and Naruto boasted the defeat of Two S-Ranked Missing Nin. He said if he could get back to Konoha, he'd be able to bring them proof of the two that he had defeated.

But not only that, but during their time together, Naruto talked to them both. He didn't act entitled to anything, despite being a Jinchuriki, his lineage, or his victories over the Missing Nin. He was humble, and relatively normal compared to some of the other men around Kumo. So long as his sociopathic tendencies didn't act up, he could blend in with society like the best of spies.

And if Mabui was honest with herself a deep part of her was turned on by the whole idea of him being her student/mentee and being attracted to him. But she didn't want anyone else knowing that.

Samui laid down on the second table, her head turned to face Mabui who was watching her. Samui allowed that ghost of a smirk to appear on her face again before Naruto started running his hands along her back, feeling for where she needed the most treatment.

Some part of her did feel bad about cutting into Mabui's time with Naruto. However, she wasn't going to give up the blonde to Mabui so simply. She had seen the way Naruto's eyes had followed Mabui's legs sometimes. And occasionally, Naruto's eyes followed hers. Samui couldn't blame the man for having difficulty deciding. He was, after all, a man.

She had gotten more massages from the blonde than Mabui did. And he used that relaxation time to talk with Samui. He gave as well as she did regarding information. She liked to think they had gotten close over the past few months, but Naruto was still rather reserved and her own personality wasn't any better.

Naruto cracked his neck like he was about to do some sort of secret massage technique that would let him massage both women at once. He cracked his knuckles by flexing his fingers. He then summoned two Shadow Clones. "I'm not getting in the middle of your pissing contest." He told the two and walked out.

Naruto wasn't stupid. He had seen the way that Mabui and Samui had started to look at one another. Either he put his foot down then and there or he'd have to deal with the fallout. He couldn't simply pick one and throw the other out, which would cause some heavy scorn. Nor would he bend over backwards to them either, and while Samui had made a demand of things, he'd deal with that later.

Naruto's place of business was a place meant for relaxation. He wasn't going to have the bullshit of dealing with those two. "Naruko, I'm going to get a massage and then a dip in the hot springs. Keep one of the clones from dispelling with Mabui and Samui."

Naruto barely paid attention to the affirmation of his clone as he ducked into the second massage studio. He laid on it, his face pressing against the cushion as a clone sprang to life. Naruto's vest was quickly removed and he was giving himself a much needed massage.

(_Scene Break)_

"The information is accurate?" The voice came out gruff from a shadowed figure, but the runner knew her master well. She could almost see the hunch back form with the swaying tail. Coupled with the blading head, beady black eyes, and a black beard, the runner knew she was at the sole center of attention.

"Yes Sasori-sama, Naruto Uzumaki is currently in the employ within Kumo. He hasn't left out of the village yet, but Konoha's spies have found him. The Godaime Hokage has already dispatched someone that is old enough to remember what Naruto Uzumaki had done, one Asuma Sarutobi." She said, telling her master the information that was requested.

A small sound was heard from the hunched figure. "You've done well; go back to your post. There are no new orders at this time." The figure said before it slunk away, disappearing with surprising stealth despite its shape and size.

Sasori was soon on the road with Deidara still tagging alongside him, even after ten years. They had both ditched the regular and more noticeable black cloaks with red clouds. They instead wore plain brown fabrics to cover themselves.

"Un… Where we going Sasori?" The blonde explosives nut asked him.

Sasori continued to lumber along. At their current pace, they'd be in Kumo in about a month or two. That was fine. He'd be able to get a report on how well Naruto would do when stacked up against the Sarutobi brat in the meantime.

"Kumo." Sasori said simply to his longstanding partner. Despite their disagreements and their loathing towards the other's art style, they did work well enough together. Sasori could handle the front line engagements inside Hiruko, while Deidara offered long-ranged support.

He hadn't been forced out of Hiruko during a battle for some time.

"What in the ass is all the way in Kumo, un?" Deidara asked rather bluntly.

"My first and only apprentice. It's been a long reunion coming, and I do hate waiting." Sasori said as he reflected back upon Naruto.

(_Flashback)_

_Sasori stepped through the gates of Konoha slowly. He moved with a merchant caravan and he kept to himself. He looked around rather dully as he observed the enemy village that had given his own village a problem for some time._

_He could probably sack it if he wanted to. It would be a good test to his abilities, not to mention a good battle with the Sandaime Kazekage and his Iron Sand._

_Maybe he could turn the Sandaime Hokage into a puppet? It was certainly an idea; he could then head to Iwa and finish off a trifecta of threes. Three Kage that were the third Kage of three separate villages._

_Perhaps he'd explore that idea a little later on. In truth, he was admiring how Konoha had come along since the Kyuubi attack five years prior. It had only been about ten years since his defection from Suna as well._

_He was there to get some lumber for a few projects he wanted to work on with his puppets. And he needed the best Lumber there was, and that was only obtained in Konoha. The Shodai Hokage made some very fine lumber. It was a shame that his body would already be decomposed. He would have made a puppet to end all puppets._

_Not to mention, he needed to look into another spy. His current one was oft indisposed._

_From the corner of his eyes, he spotted a young boy with spikey blonde hair that was glaring holes at a civilian with his son. Sasori paused in his walking, waiting expectantly. Would the boy take that first step into becoming a weapon for his village? Would he kill the civilians?_

_Sasori knew that if the boy did so, and if he was important enough, he'd get drafted into ANBU and turned into another cog in the machine, another faceless killer. Suna did it; the other villages would likely do it as well._

'Come on boy, do it… Let me see it.'_ Sasori thought, cursing his impatience. Kami, he loathed waiting. It was why turning himself into a puppet had been a grueling process. Not the pain, the pain he could deal with. It was the waiting. He had to let his body rest or he risked losing himself._

_The boy stood up, slowly with a shaking that showed his rage. The boy then took off running at the pair and Sasori eagerly awaited it. He wanted to see it; he wanted to see the child hurt the civilian. He wanted the violence, craved it. It had been too long since he could just watch it without being the center of it._

_Sasori swore under his breath when the blonde child hit a rock and fell forward, busting his chin wide open. Bleeding profusely, the civilians laughed at the blonde. '_Come on, get up, don't take it from them! Kill them, hurt them! They're laughing at your pain!'

_He would have mangled the two civilians, forced the father to watch his son bash his own skull into the wall until his brains were leaking all over the concrete._

_Instead, instead of the blonde shit attacking with even more justified anger, the blonde began to grin. The little blonde shit grinned and laughed like he had done it on purpose._

_Sasori felt like screaming in fury, in frustration. All of that build up and it didn't happen._

_He turned and continued on. The boy wasn't so far along the 'right' path that he couldn't be lured away onto the proper path. He'd need to make sure the boy wouldn't make the same mistake ever again._

_With a bit of digging, Sasori managed to find not only a good place for him to stay for a while, but also a lumber store that would cater to his needs._

_It was easy to forge a doctor's certificate as well. This way he could change it at will and use a different puppet, with a different face, to acquire all the chemicals he'd need to continue his work on puppetry, whether it was arming the ones he had or turning more people into puppets._

_The real work came in finding out who the blonde was. It took the use of some of his stronger hypnosis drugs. But with the information on Naruto Uzumaki, it was easy to discern the blonde's parents and how Sasori would approach the boy._

_Two or three years in Konoha wouldn't hurt. Not to mention, he could have a disguise as a mere puppeteer, settling down in Konoha. It meant he'd have to do the puppetry the mundane and nonlethal way, and he'd have to contain his own aggressive urges, but the thought of having the Kyuubi Jinchuriki as an apprentice was somewhat… enticing._

_(Scene Break)_

_Sasori was regretting his haste in choosing the Kyuubi Jinchuriki. Not only was the boy watched like a hawk almost constantly, but Sasori had to handle with his subpar intelligence. The boy learned by doing things though, so Sasori made that a priority._

_It had taken a year for Sasori to teach the boy the benefits of being able to sit down and learn something from a book. It would make Naruto a better Shinobi in the long run. The boy was also getting harder and harder concepts each day, with Sasori testing the blonde nearly constantly._

_Sasori had made sure that he was never seen with the boy, keep his appearances constantly changing out in the village proper whenever he was teaching the blonde something. He also taught the boy to keep Sasori's real relationship a secret. Getting the boy to agree had been surprisingly easy when he told the boy it was meant to be a surprise at how good he was going to be._

_But Sasori had also needed to go, he needed to leave Konoha. But he had to leave Naruto with something, something that would stick in his mind for the rest of his life._

_He watched his young apprentice working at some chemicals on a table laden with poisons, acids, bases, and other substances. Naruto was making notes in a journal, his mind analytical and without the loneliness that Sasori had growing up._

_Sasori saw a small explosion and he frowned a moment. "Not good enough." He said from his spot, chakra threads already moving onto the blonde. How many times had he broken Naruto's body like this? He bashed the child into the wall, the ceiling, into a mirror, against marble countertops._

_Yet the blonde wouldn't stop messing things up._

_The blonde never fought back._

_That was what Sasori wanted of Naruto. He wanted Naruto to have a backbone; he wanted him to despise the villagers. But it was so damned difficult to get him to rise to that potential. How would Sasori manage it?_

_Then he got a wicked idea._

_He needed to make Naruto scream in untold pain, pain that he had never experienced. A broken bone? Big deal, all kids broke something at some point and another._

_Sasori used the chakra threads to throw the blonde into the table holding all the chemicals, the sound of glass breaking and liquid spilling an excellent backup orchestra to the symphony that was Naruto's screams of purest agony._

_The blonde thrashed in the midst of it all and Sasori moved back as the blonde wrenched and maneuvered in debilitating pain. _

"_You're still not good enough Brat! I have invested three years of my time into you and I have gotten nothing in return!" Sasori shouted the silencing seals placed around his home keeping anything from getting out. "I am washing my hands of you." He then moved over, grabbing Naruto's throat. _

_The blonde's screaming and thrashing stopped pain evident as tears mixed with the fluid on his face. Sasori could see his skin bubbling. The blonde's eyes opened crimson and Naruto lashed out, ripping through Sasori's hand. "I'll kill you!" he screamed._

_Sasori stumbled back a few steps. He regarded the blonde a moment that had just ripped through a very strong mix of materials. Between bone, skin, and wood, it was very difficult to break Sasori's body. "If you seek to kill me boy, you need to get better. Do not waste my time; it is far more precious to me than your pathetic life." Sasori said and began to walk away._

_He glanced over his shoulder at the sound of whimpering, just to see the blonde dragging a six inch piece of glass out of his thigh._

_Sasori could say that he was proud of the blonde for once in the three years he had spent training him up. Now it was just up to Naruto to continue on that path. And Sasori had given him plenty of reason to continue. Naruto had that indomitable will that would let him go far if he had the right push._

_And Sasori had given it to him. That pain would never fade from the blonde._

_(Flashback End)_

"Whatever you say Sasori-danna, whatever you say." Deidara said, having watched Sasori for a moment, his eye capable of seeing through the puppet Hiruko. Sasori had this sort of focused look in his eyes.

(_Scene Break)_

Naruto stayed inside the hot springs of his establishment. His head rested back on the rocks while most of his body was submerged. His left hand traced the faded scar on his thigh. He remembered the jagged edge; in fact for a while he had kept it.

He really needed to head back to Konoha to get his trophy stash.

It was a constant reminder of the pain, and the easiest accessible scar for when he began to forget it. He would kill his Sensei for his actions. The broken bones Naruto could deal with, even the occasional burning.

But throwing Naruto into all those chemicals had fucked with his mind, causing something to snap.

Naruto had ended up in the hospital from that series of wounds, but he refused to talk about what happened to Sarutobi. The old man had tried, but Naruto refused to mention anything.

It was also when Naruto developed the seal at the base of his skull that would repel all Yamanaka mind techniques. He didn't place it on for another six months when his tutor, Iruka, had figured out that Naruto had no ability for the basic clone technique due to massive reserves.

Naruto liked Iruka; the man had helped Naruto through more advanced things than what Naruto had finished at under his tenure with Sasori. He was even honest with Naruto, saying that had it been a classroom setting, he might not have caught that Naruto had such large reserves that his control was shot to hell for the rest of his life.

Naruto heard footsteps against the stone leading up to the hot spring. Then he heard the water shift as two individuals came into it. He had a warm rag folded over his eyes, and he was rather comfortable. He wasn't about to change that just to see who had come in.

"Naruto," the blonde felt his muscles in his shoulders tense ever so slightly in anticipation. Samui was speaking. "Mabui and I have come to a decision, an agreement."

Having his private time interrupted, Naruto was just a touch snarky. "What? I'm going to be dating you both?" he asked. He expected to hear sounds of sputtering, denial, even anger.

What he got? Silence. Dead silence. Not even the water splashing as they'd shift.

Naruto raised his head up and shifted the cloth away to reveal one blue eye. Mabui and Samui were both watching him.

"How did you deduce that?" Mabui asked as though such a thing wasn't uncommon.

Naruto blinked somewhat owlishly before he leaned his head back. "It was actually sarcastic." Naruto said, his shoulders relaxing a bit. If they weren't going to fight about it and instead share, he wasn't going to poke at it.

A relationship could have solid steel supports, but if someone kept picking at it and picking at it, those supports would crumble and the relationship would fall.

He heard the water splash and he felt both girls move up to him, one on either arm. If Naruto was honest with himself for just a moment, he was the luckiest bastard in all of Kumo. Now he just had to get thoughts out of his head that would make him sound like Omoi.

Naruto inhaled slowly, the scent of the oil still lingering on the two girls filling his nostrils. It helped him relax quite a bit more as he held the two. Feeling their plump breasts against his sides was just a bonus.

With a slight sigh, Naruto knew he had to break some bad news to the two. "I'm afraid I don't know much about dating." He said. "I was taught by a man with no reproductive drive from the age of five to seven, I was privately tutored from the age of seven to thirteen. I had no real interaction with women except those I killed. I was then tucked away into prison for the next ten years."

Mabui patted his stomach softly. "Don't worry Naruto-kun," he was oddly pleased with the '-Kun' suffix from Mabui. It came easy, which told him she had to of been keeping from calling him such for a while. "You have good instincts, so just follow them."

Samui rested her head on his shoulder. "She's right Naruto-kun." Again, he enjoyed that '-Kun' suffix from the woman as well. "And we'll help you along if you need it." Samui told him.

Naruto nodded softly. "Huh… I thought dating would be harder." He said more to himself before letting everything fall into a comfortable silence so that they could just relax.

(_Scene Break)_

Naruto had left to walk around Kumo, looking around for somewhere that he could take both women on a first date. He was still personally trying to wrap his head around having two girlfriends. He knew people that had difficulty getting even one, and somehow without trying he managed to score two.

Somewhere up there, someone had to either hate him or love him.

On his walk however, Naruto came across one thing that caused the itch to rear its ugly head up. He had that desire to hunt and kill once more that not even the Raikage's deal would settle. Naruto felt a snarl escape from his lips.

"You worthless brat, after all I've invested into you, you can't get a single thing right!" Naruto watched as a Sensei beat upon his apprentice, and no one moved to stop him.

The man raised his hand once more and Naruto was simply there, catching the strike and glaring holes into the man's skull. "Knock it off before I kill you." The blonde said in a low tight tone that reminded the Jonin of a viper coiled up, ready to strike.

The Jonin jerked his hand back. "Who the fuck do you think you are to tell me what I can and can't do with my apprentice?" he asked. Apprenticeships could go either way in any village, and from time to time you ended up getting assholes that abused their power. Unfortunately, the laws kept people from interfering. The Jonin sized Naruto up, and Naruto knew what the man would think because Naruto wasn't wearing his headband. "Some fucking civilian thinks he knows how to teach a worthless piece of shit like that?"

Naruto growled a bit more. This fool was dead; he just didn't know it yet.

The Jonin scoffed before turning around. "Fuck it, whatever. Keep the bastard. I don't care anymore; he'll probably fall on the sharp end of his Kunai anyways."

Naruto glanced down to him to the young kid who was gripping the handle of a Kunai. Naruto knelt down and placed his hand on the kid's own. "He's not worth it." Naruto said softly. "Now what's your name?" he asked.

"Omari," the kid said sniffling a little bit before rolling his shoulders, trying to work the pain out. It was a technique Naruto knew quite well.

"And how old are you Omari?" he asked.

"Nine, I'll be ten in a month."

Naruto regarded the young child for a moment. Could he be a better Sensei than his first one? Would he even take the boy in? Omari had short black hair and the dark skin that was common around Kumo. The boy looked a little malnourished, but not to such a degree that Naruto wouldn't be able to help him.

'_Damn.'_ Naruto thought before he pierced Omari with a hard look. "I want to make something abundantly clear Omari. I am not a nice person; I am a sick and twisted individual. I am a Shinobi, but I'm also a monster." Naruto was pleased to note he had Omari's undivided attention. "I can teach you, I can keep my monstrosity in check, but I want you to know exactly what you might be getting involved with if you do decide to go with me teaching you."

Omari looked down, looking to struggle for a moment. "And if I don't want you teaching me?"

Naruto shrugged. "Kumo likely has an academy. You go there, become a Genin the way everyone else does." He said.

Omari dipped his head down again. "Then I'll learn under you."

Naruto was afraid the boy would say that, but he nodded anyways and stood up. "Well then Omari," he said and helped the boy stand. "I have much to teach you, not just about being a Shinobi but about life in general."

Naruto briefly wondered what the girls would think.

"Come on." He said, leading the kid away. The least he could do at the moment was getting Omari something to eat.

(_Scene Break)_

It had taken Naruto a week to get the Jonin. He had the same cup of coffee daily from the same coffee joint. It had been... pathetically easy to drug the man

Naruto had already set everything up, from the large tub of water to the protective Plexiglas. Naruto had gone a different route this time. He hadn't given the Jonin any drug that would let him thrash about.

Instead, Naruto had surgically cut every ligament. The man wouldn't be able to move that well. His muscles would be able to twitch his bones, but the bones would be incapable of working together in the normal way that would let him pull himself out.

Naruto walked past the Plexiglas a moment and smacked the man awake. "Get up." Naruto snarled.

The Jonin groaned a bit as he slowly came to. He glared down at the blonde as he came into focus. "What do you want? What are you doing in my room?" he asked.

Naruto snorted and turned, walking away. "I told you, I would kill you." He said as he stepped behind the protective Plexiglas. He then cut the cord holding the man up. "I hate being a liar."

The man landed in the acid and began to instantly thrash and writhe, screaming in agony as the flesh was stripped away. Naruto smirked to himself, this was much more enjoyable than being led to the slaughter of someone.

Now how would he manage to continue to have this happen? How would he manage to continue the hunt? Maybe he could work something out with A.

Naruto examined the black clothed headband and flicked his finger against it. They made the best trophies, ever since he had gotten a random Jonin's headband. It was like it was proof of Naruto's ability.

He wondered how many bounties he had built up.

Naruto tucked it away, hitting his hand against the draining system and the sprinkler system both. The rain was pulled and the Jonin began to drain away into the sewer system of Kumo. The sprinkler system kicked on, washing away all the evidence. All anyone would think was that it was a malfunction of some sort.

But having collected his trophy, Naruto had a slight problem that he needed to have handled. It was like a constant nagging sensation scratching at the back of his skull, just beneath the skin.

He needed his other trophies.

He had hundreds of trophies within the walls of Konoha, not including his most prized trophies of Kazuku's headband and Hidan's scythe. This all boiled down to the fact that he _needed_ to get inside of Konoha without being executed, legally so would be best.

It meant Naruto needed to think on a few things, trying to dredge up some memories.

The one thing Naruto could think of made him groan a little bit.

He had only one way inside of Konoha, the same way that most people of interest would get within Konoha. That meant he needed to take on more brats past Omari and get them doing some actual work.

The Chunin exams were in a couple months, and he would not miss out on the chance to go back to Konoha to grab his trophies. He was going to need a chaperone as well, someone that could handle Konoha's forces.

He would have to plead with A to let him take Bee.

Naruto sighed in displeasure at the thought. A hated letting Bee wander out around the world, not because he was Kumo's guardian, but there was that somewhat, but mostly because Bee was his little brother.

A was meant to be protective.

Naruto sighed before he put his new trophy with the other few he had.

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck as he thought of his own skills. He wasn't ready to be a Jonin Sensei, but it had to be done. But Naruto was also capable of getting some good help on the matters that needed to be done so that he could be a strong enough Jonin.

Naruto bit his thumb and flashed through the quick hand seals. "Mabui-chan and Samui-chan are going to be pissed with me." He muttered as he thought about what he was doing.

If you didn't have a summoning contract with any summon, you would be transported to the appropriate Summon realm that best suited you and your personality. It was dangerous because most summoning creatures were ornery fucks that didn't want anything to do with anyone.

"Summoning!" Naruto cried out, slamming his palm down onto the ground. In a plume of smoke, he vanished to wherever he was meant to go for his summoning.

Naruto felt extremely disoriented as he landed, his legs spread and his palm on the ground. It looked like a ready battle pose, hopefully it would distract whatever summon creature he went to away long enough for him to get his head in the game.

When Naruto began to look around a little bit more, he realized he was in a lush, verdant forest. The trees were bigger than any he had ever seen, with one massive one in the distance. It had to stand a full two hundred feet over the rest of the trees.

Naruto glanced around, looking for some sort of animal that would have made the place home. But he didn't see anything.

That meant nothing though, because Naruto had a nagging feeling along the back of his neck like he was being watched. "A game of stealth and Shadows? So be it." Naruto said before he leapt away, a single lethal blade lashing at the tree branch he had been standing on.

Naruto had acknowledged the test, now he just had to survive.

End

A/N: Sorry guys, I had gotten writer's block towards the end of this. I'm off for the next week so I'm hoping to post another chapter or two before I have to go back to school.

Adios,

Hunter Berserker Wolf


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Naruto was getting quite tired of the game. He flipped, dodged, ducked, and dropped from the trees. He had not got a single glimpse of a single one of his attackers, and he knew there were a dozen or so attacking him at this point.

They were wickedly fast; they blended in with the foliage and the bark. And their blades were something to be wary of, they were definitely channeling wind chakra through the blades and they were quite capable of cutting through branches that were a foot or two in diameter before disappearing in the next moment.

It was through sheer luck alone that he had yet to get diced to pieces by the unknown summons.

When would the test end? They seemed to get more ferocious in their attacks the closer he got to the massive tree in the center of the forest. Was that where he was meant to go? He could run faster, but that would alert his position to more of the unknown summons.

And if more began to attack him, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to get there unscathed.

He growled as he ran up a tree and flipped over an attack, a green blur disappearing and hiding his attacker as he landed once more. He glanced at the massive tree, visible even through the dense canopy.

"Oh fuck it!" Naruto could handle a bit of pain.

He raced up the tree his feet barely touching the branches for more than a few moments, even as his attackers began to swarm him. He heard a sort of scraping as their feet scrambled up the bark. He didn't dare look, he needed to focus on the tree, and he needed to run fast enough that he'd have tunnel vision.

Naruto turned and began to run for the tree. He ran as fast and hard as he could. He didn't dare drop any explosive tags, even though he knew they'd slow or kill his pursuers. It would just piss off the creatures he was trying to make a contract with.

Naruto felt the wind rushing by, the leaves bounced under his steps but he moved too quickly for them to collapse under him.

His survival instincts ran high and he dodged to the left, just a little bit. The flash of blade that had been aimed to take his head off caught him at his right cheek. Pain and blood erupted from that side of his face, and he felt a distinct lack of his earlobe. He reached up; pressing his teeth shut as much as he could and held his cheek as he ran. It would probably be one ugly wound.

A dozen blades slashed out from under the canopy at him, and he leapt off of each of them. He was a hundred meters away; he could cross that in about fifteen seconds. Naruto came to a dead stop, using chakra to stick to the upper most branches of the canopy and causing his assailants to move past him.

Naruto dipped down into a sprinter's pose, he'd reach top speed at about fifty meters, and he wasn't going to slow, he was just going to barrel into the tree and then go straight up. At the flash of a blade, Naruto took off.

He remembered everything he could about sprinting. Sprinting wasn't done the same as running. A Shinobi sprinted long distances in emergencies only. Most of the time, they ran. Running took less energy, and a Shinobi could recover from running faster.

Sprinting on the other hand, you put your entire body into it. The heart and lungs had difficulty keeping up because of the higher demand for oxygen that your muscles needed.

If a Shinobi had to sprint, then he crashed into the enemy and attempted to kill as many in a single charge as he possible could.

Naruto's lungs burned as he hit the tree and he shot up it. He could hear the bark cracking underneath every step he took. He broke through the top of the branches and the tree, landing in a roll as he came up. He glanced around at the verdant sanctuary in the midst of the tree's limbs.

Wood had been brought up and stuck together with a resin or a sap of some sort to make it resemble a flat platform. Water came up from the bottom through a basic, but sturdy, pulley system, feeding it constantly into an artificial spring that poured off the side of the tree

Naruto didn't feel his attackers around him either.

He glanced around, breathing heavily. He cupped some of the water into one hand and began to wash his face with it a bit. His right cheek was cut cleanly through; in fact Naruto could stick his tongue back towards his wisdom teeth and slid it out of his cheek still.

And his right earlobe was missing, having been cut cleanly off.

"Sharp ass blades." He muttered, feeling his cheek pulling strangely.

Naruto took a scroll from his vest and unsealed some basic medical supplies. He got a needle and some wire and began to seal up his cheek. Just another scar to his collection, and he welcomed it. Well, so long as he made it out of the summon realm alive. If he didn't, well he wouldn't be able to welcome it.

He tucked the scroll away once he was done with the simple stitches. He was glad he still remembered how to do it, a little rusty but not a bad job either.

Naruto then stood up as he heard a strange clicking sound almost.

He glanced around, but the summons were still unseen. He then snapped his head forward at the sound of the wood creaking and he came face to face with what was undoubtedly the boss summon.

Mantises.

She, and Naruto knew it was a she from his entomology reading, was a dark vivid green that was capable of hiding with the leaves of the forest. She had to be the size of a smaller Biju; In fact, Naruto didn't even come up to the first bend in her legs.

Naruto squared his shoulders and raised his head as he stared at the compound eyes of the Queen Mantis. She had heavy armor plating, probably made from a chitin that was lightweight. But what drew Naruto's attention was the wicked scythe where part of her left arm should be. He could see everything securing it in place.

He was really feeling low on the totem pole at the moment.

"_**You have entered my domain at your own risk. You have made it all the way here to my throne. Do you think such an act would go unpunished?" **_The voice boomed and echoed off all the wood, Naruto's head feeling the press of such a mind.

Naruto held his hands out to both sides. "If you are going to punish me Queen of the Mantises, then punish me. I do not fear death." He said boldly.

The slash of the scythe came out but he did not flinch. He did not back down, even as the tip dug into his chest, blood staining his black vest. It was not a deep puncture, but it brought her point across. "_**Many have claimed such a thing in the past human; many have failed to back up such a claim."**_

Naruto kept his head held high. "I am a Shinobi, I am an Uzumaki, and I am a Sociopath. I know better than most how death works. If it is my time to meet the Shinigami, and if it meant to be you to bring my death, then so be it. I welcome death like a brother."

"_**I could make you suffer in ways you could not dream of. Does that scare you little Shinobi? Are you terrified of what I could have my children do to you? You would beg for months, years even to die and we would not allow it."**_

Naruto allowed his eyes to lose the warmth they usually held, a show he had that would keep people from being nervous around him. He stepped closer onto that scythe blade, feeling it scrape across his ribs. "I do not fear pain, I do not fear torture. I am already a broken man Queen of the Mantises. My first sensei, when I was but a child, threw me into a table full of chemicals. Dozens of acids and toxins invaded my body, it destroyed parts of my system but I allowed my rage to take deep root, I allowed it to mend my body and mind because Rage is the best anesthetic that can be offered."

Naruto stepped closer, feeling that blade force through his ribs. "I spent six years killing people, men, women, children, it mattered not to me. The old, the young, the smart, the stupid, the ugly, the beautiful, the rich, the poor were all my victims because life makes a victim of us all." Naruto glanced upwards, holding his head high and proud. "I was caught and I spent ten years in a seven by seven by seven hole in the ground filled with concrete and steel. I had my chakra stripped from me, slowly, agonizingly, and had it fed into the very village I had preyed upon."

Naruto watched her with unflinching eyes. "Do your worst, because I guarantee that it has already been done to me."

The Queen Mantis stared into his eyes as though she could see his past, see into the demons that still held their spurs on his very soul. Some scars never faded, some scars dug into the very soul without mercy and Naruto had plenty to show, even if they were seen without his command.

Suddenly, the Queen reared back, laughing. It was a chilling sound, almost like a wail really. But Naruto didn't flinch, even as the blade was drawn back and she came down close to his face. He could see the reflection of his face hundreds of times in the compound eyes. "_**You are quite the interesting little Nymph, aren't you? Very well, the Mantis Clan shall enter the world of man once more! Who is the name of our summoner?"**_

"I am Naruto Uzumaki, the Stew Maker of Konoha and a Shinobi of Kumo." The blonde said, staring at the Queen of the Mantis Clan.

He was suddenly surrounded by twelve man sized mantises, each having their left arm in a bladed scythe like their queen. They wore a darker green armor, mixed with brown. Naruto noticed these had been the summons that had attacked him on his way in. He glanced up at the Queen with a slight rising of his brow.

"_**My most trusted children Uzumaki-kun, and those that had tested your resolve. Had you waved in your advance, they would have cut you down where you stood. But you kept pressing onwards. Hold out your arm. The Mantis Clan does not have a traditional contract."**_

Naruto did as she asked, sticking out his left arm. Her bladed scythe came down and began to dig into the flesh of his arm, deep enough he'd need stitches. Her blade circled his arm. The dozen mantis warriors moved forward after their queen and began to make another ten circles, from the elbow down to his wrist. Two lines, from his wrist to his elbow on both the upper and underside of his arm were formed next.

The queen mantis then grabbed his arm and channeled chakra. For all his strength, for all his pain tolerance, Naruto yelled out in sheer agony, it was an almost rippling pain that felt like he plunged his arm into molten steel.

Naruto's hand was released and his arm fell limply to his side as he fell to his knees. He grabbed at his arm watching with morbid fascination as the blood acted like sealing ink, forming a summoning tattoo on his arm. He breathed heavily before he stood up once more, tall and proud, even after his pain.

He glanced to the Mantis Queen. "What do I call you?" he asked her.

"_**You don't. We are the Nameless ones. We are the Shadows that lurk within the Summoning Realm. We are those that strike without hesitation, without remorse. We do not battle at the front lines like the toads or snakes; instead we attack from the shadows. We are those that are a Sure Kill." **_The Queen Said.

The Mantises were like Naruto then. He glanced around at all the potential warriors, realizing that if they truly wanted to stop him from getting to this place, there wouldn't have been a damned thing he could do to stop them.

"_**As you summon us, concentrate what you need us for and the appropriate one shall appear. Now, be gone. We do not wish for company as much as you primitive apes do."**_

Naruto was surprised when he found himself back in his home inside Kumo. "Huh… isn't that handy?" he asked himself, glancing around. It didn't seem like he had been gone that long either.

(_Scene Break)_

Naruto walked with Omari towards Kumo's academy. It was graduation day, and he had less time to get Omari ready as well as two other rookie Genin. Thankfully, the week he had taken to see where Omari was at had been plenty for him to note something.

Omari was really, really fucking good at the basics.

Omari could rig traps like no one's business, he could set ambushes and wait things out. He had managed to catch Naruto off guard a few times, nothing that would have killed Naruto but it had been a pain in his ass.

He was also one stealthy little shit, and Naruto knew how that happened.

When Omari didn't want to be anyone, he was no one and nobody paid attention to no one.

Naruto had done much the same in Konoha, especially since most of the time all he had gotten was dirty looks. It was harder when you had a rank of any sort or a family, but when you didn't have those, it was very easy to turn invisible and blend in with everyone.

Naruto entered the academy with Omari trailing behind him as quickly as an almost ten year old could. Naruto flashed his headband to the person at the desk, and Omari followed suit. Naruto had managed to get Omari as a registered Genin. He had also adopted the little bastard.

No one could say Naruto didn't have a nice bone in his body.

He went to the door to the classroom and pushed it open, stepping through and glancing at the variety of students. He had to get two of these brats up to snuff and working with Omari so that they could go off to be Chunin.

He still wasn't sure if that was an entirely good idea or not, but he'd figure that out later.

Naruto found a dark skinned girl with blonde hair sitting next to another dark skinned girl with black hair. "You two," he said getting their attention. "Follow me." He said and turned on his heel, leading the three out.

Kumo was much stricter with their rules than Konoha, and so the two girls knew to follow orders without hesitation.

That could be a good thing or a bad thing.

Naruto led them all to the training field that he had been frequenting, working with one of the Mantises on his Taijutsu so that he had a real style. No one knew about his summons just yet, and he planned to keep it that way.

Well, Samui and Mabui knew he had summons, but he neglected to say what clan he got a contract with.

Naruto turned on his heel to face his three knew brats, folding his arms a bit as he leaned against a particularly large boulder. "Omari, introduce yourself. Name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams." He said simply.

"My name is Omari Uzumaki; I like traps, training, and my father. I dislike my sensei. My hobbies include giving my sensei hell and my dreams for the future…" Omari shrugged. "I don't know I'm not even ten yet."

"What?!" the blonde girl sputtered out, turning on Omari. "What sort of bullshit is that?! You're four years younger than us and a Genin?!"

Naruto looked to the blonde. "Shut up and go girlie." He said to her.

She glared at him, crossing her arms underneath her budding bust. "Fine, my name is Setsuka. I like fish, swords, Yugito-sama. I dislike you currently_ Sensei_, the brat, and Bee-sama's rapping. My hobbies including training. My dream for the future is to become the Godaime Raikage." She said looking a little sullen.

"And lastly we come to you." Naruto said looking to the dark haired girl.

"Akuma, fighting, talking, training, and to fight the strongest of people, in that order." The dark haired girl said.

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose. He had a pubescent boy, a hotheaded female, and a battle crazy girl. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, yes the brat is mine by adoption, and yes it's allowed. My likes are trophies from the people I've killed," he was pleased to see their eyes widen in surprise. "As well as Mabui-chan and Samui-chan. My dislikes are the brat when he's pissing me off, and right now the two of you. I also dislike redheads and senseless abuse. My hobbies include training, giving massages, and tending to my sociopathic tendencies. My goal for the immediate future is to get the three of you up to snuff for the Chunin Exams, which happens in Konoha in three months."

Naruto regarded the three and watched them. "Now, I will push you hard. I will break you and I will make you despise me. But I will also reward you; I will see you all grow into splendid Shinobi, capable of destroying any that get in your way. But this shit between you two and Omari," he motioned to the two girls and his adoptive son. "Ends right now."

"I'm not working with-" Setsuka started.

Right before Naruto slammed his fist into her gut, making her cough heavily and fall forward.

"You will work with Omari and Akuma, Setsuka!" he barked out with his point across. "You are a Shinobi of Kumo, and you will act like one. Do you have to like either Akuma or Omari? Fuck no. But you will respect them, you will work with them. You check all prejudice at the door when you leave your house every day. You think Omari is weak? Then you help him get stronger. You think Akuma is too battle hungry? Then you are an anchor for her."

Naruto regarded the three once more. "I see a kid before me, a battle hungry fool that will face someone too strong for her current strength, and I see a hothead." Naruto said looking at the downed Setsuka. "And it's my duty to change all of that."

He looked to Omari. "You need to grow up some more, and that will happen as time passes." He then looked to Akuma. "You're going to want to thrash every opponent in front of you, but you need to learn to retreat and attack from a different angle." He glanced down to Setsuka. "You need to control your impulsive urges and funnel them properly. Do I make myself understood?!" he barked out.

He got three yeses, even though Setsuka's was ground out.

Naruto nodded. "Then let's get to training. You three against me. Go!" he barked out, lashing out with a kick immediately aimed for Akuma.

Akuma's golden eyes widened before she blocked the kick with her forearms, sliding back a little bit from the blow but trying to retaliate by grabbing Naruto's leg and literally throwing him, being quite a bit stronger than her lithe frame appeared.

Naruto moved with the throw, spinning in the air and landing against a rock before he kicked off of it, moving to attack Setsuka. The blonde drew her sword and slashed out at Naruto's incoming form, but his sword came out of his sheath, blocking the sword with his own. "Not good enough Setsuka!" he called out. "This piece of shit sword isn't cutting it!" he then channeled his wind through his blade and cleaved through the steel of Setsuka's sword.

Naruto caught Setsuka in the gut with a kick and he turned on Omari, moving over and attacking the youngest member of the team. "You're not always going to be able to set up a trap Omari! You need to be able to adapt and retaliate to any situation!" he barked out as he slashed at Omari who used a kunai to deflect Naruto's sword as best as he could.

Naruto caught Omari under the chin with a palm strike, launching the boy back.

Naruto then swayed backwards, dropping onto his back to only pop up backwards onto his feet. He was surprised by the onslaught of Akuma. She was a vicious scraper and she had a clearly defined hard style of Taijutsu. Not to mention her skin took on a sort of angry reddish color, like some sort of Kekkai Genkai.

But Naruto already saw one thing that he expected to change with the girl and he was going to exploit it in the harshest ways possible. He stepped forward, flowing around her punch, and caught her under the jaw with two fingers, literally yanking her back and out of the rigid stance she had.

"Enough!" he barked out as he saw Omari and Setsuka were moving to help Akuma so they could try again. "I've seen all that I need to see." He said and he debated who he'd start with.

"Akuma, you rely too heavily upon your style and your stance. Your style will telegraph everything about you, from the way you punch to the way you kick, even how you block. You must constantly keep a ready stance that is loose, unreadable and has nothing to do with any style. Your attacks must be kept unpredictable. So we'll be working on that.

"Omari, you're too used to bait and switch and trap tactics. You need to be able to fight if a circumstance demands it, and circumstances will demand it of you to fight. All it takes is one little moment of your trap not working, or your prey not taking the bait. You'll have to be able to pull your own weight, because eventually you will have to do solo missions.

"Setsuka, you shouldn't be so quick to go for your sword. Your style is good, rigid but with the proper amount of flexibility. But as you saw against me, a superior swordsman will be able to bully you, and quite possibly cleave through the blade like it was tissue paper. Wind chakra will always trump just plain metal." Naruto said, looking to the last of his three students. He certainly had his work cut out for him, but he needed to get into Konoha.

Oh… he supposed if the brats made it to Chunin that'd be awesome too.

Naruto reached into his vest and grabbed his scroll. He unsealed three strips of paper and handed it to the three. "Channel some chakra into each of those. They're specially crafted paper from the Land of Iron that have been fed chakra from the moment the tree was planted to when it was turned into paper. It will show me what each of your elements is."

All three Genin channeled chakra into their paper with surprising results.

Akuma, unsurprisingly to Naruto really, had Earth, with her paper crumbling away.

Setsuka, again unsurprisingly given that they were in Kumo, had Lightning, her paper crumpled up on itself.

It was Omari who was a bit of a surprise.

Chakra was… a variety of factors. It was the classic Nature versus Nurture argument. More so perhaps with chakra, because it literally seemed like a coin flip at times. Chakra specialists had been running tests since the Warring Clans time.

Naruto believed it was at least a bit of both. How else could places like Konoha, Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri have common elements of fire, earth, lightning, and water respectively, but Suna didn't have an abundance of wind users?

Naruto thought it took on your nature as well.

So it begged the question on how Omari had Fire, his paper burning to ash.

Fire was one of the more common ones, sure, but in the Land of Lightning it was generally a one in every ten shot. Omari wasn't even that much of a hothead either, a bit of a prankster, but not a hothead.

"Well, would you look at that? With me and my little brats, I cover all the bases." Naruto held up a fourth slip of chakra paper and showed the group as it split in half with both halves getting soaked. Naruto had been working hard at his secondary element, which was a pain in the ass by itself.

Thankfully Darui had no problem giving some tips on Water Manipulation.

Naruto took out a second scroll from his vest and from that unsealed three scrolls. "One Jutsu each." He told the three, giving them each a scroll. "Practice it, learn it, and master it. I actually wanted to work for my victory next time." He told them. "Team dismissed, go get some lunch or something."

"Where's Sensei going?" Setsuka asked as the older blonde turned and walked off with a wave of his hand.

Omari shrugged. "Probably to hang out with Mabui-san and Samui-san."

_(Scene break)_

Naruto stood in his bedroom, adjusting his clothes as he looked in a mirror. He had been with Samui and Mabui for three weeks now; they were incredibly patient with him since he was taking them both out on the first date instead of slighting either one of them.

For a first date, he wanted something memorable. What people tended to forget was what made a first date memorable was that it sort of set the mood on how the relationship would go. And that very first date would be used as a sort of measuring stick for every other date after it, no matter if someone were going out with someone else or not.

This was literally Naruto's first ever date. He was a sociopath, sure, but even he wanted things to go the way they should. He had nothing to compare the date to, so he wanted it to be memorable incase future dates didn't go so well.

But at the same time, he had to make it special for Mabui and Samui and that took time and effort. Between his training under the Mantises, working with Omari, figuring out the team, training under Mabui, Samui, and Darui, Naruto had little time for himself anymore. Plus he still had to manage to make time to continue working his massage parlor.

Then there were his interrogations.

But Naruto had managed to find a place, and managed to get a Mantis to deliver the messages to Samui and Mabui completely unseen. He had told his girls to dress in a semi-formal fashion. They didn't need to go with the whole fancy Kimono route.

Naruto ran a comb through his blonde hair, trying to tame the spiky mess and failing. He sighed as he regarded himself in the mirror once more.

Naruto had on a dark blue, silk long sleeved shirt that buttoned down the front. He left the top two buttons undone. He also had a pair of black dress pants that he tucked the shirt into. Naruto wasn't too worried about being attack, but he was ready for anything, just in case. He had his sword sealed up in a spot he could easily get to it from.

His eyes were really shining blue with the way the light hit his shirt, and Naruto knew he smelled clean and fresh. He was as good as he was going to get for the date; he just hoped that it went well enough as he had hoped it would.

Naruto stepped from his bedroom out to the living room and saw his three students there waiting on him, as though they were going to judge what he was wearing before the two women in his life got to see it.

"Wow pops, you can actually clean up." Omari's smart mouth got ahead of him already and Naruto rolled his eyes, pulling his adoptive son into a headlock.

"Watch yourself kid, you do have two baby sitters tonight… Unless you're trying to be like your old man, you sly dog." Naruto teased the boy who blushed brightly at the implications. Naruto ruffled his hair before moving past him, pausing as he saw the blush on Setsuka's face. She couldn't even look him in the eye. He glanced over to Akuma who was reading a book on Taijutsu. "She uh… she doesn't have a fetish for older men does she?"

Akuma glanced up from her book, about to give a physical motion of affirmation or denial, like she had done her entire academy tenure. Naruto crossing his arms and giving her a pointed look gave her pause. He had been working on getting her to talk a little bit more. Nothing too much, but she was to always answer his questions verbally. "She does." Akuma said.

Naruto glanced away from the reading Akuma to the blushing Setsuka and shook his head. "Oi!" he flicked her forehead with two fingers. "If you're not within five years above or below me in age, don't fantasize about me. At my guess, you're about ten years younger than me. If you want a boyfriend, Omari's right there."

"Dad!"

"He's nine!"

Naruto chuckled softly at the sound of outrage from both Omari and Setsuka. Oh yeah, his boy was going to be a player when he got older, he just needed the right influences. Setsuka would probably fall head over heels for the boy, along with Akuma. How did he know? He read it in a book somewhere and the plot had almost his team's dynamics.

Naruto chuckled a little bit at his own thoughts.

"Time to see if I'll regret my decision or not." Naruto said as he grabbed the flowers. Behind him, he locked the door. His two older students would be watching Omari.

Naruto flipped a coin as he got to about the halfway point between Samui's apartment and Mabui's apartment. He then headed off towards Samui's to pick her up first. Hopefully the girls wouldn't be upset with his method but he supposed that was where he came in. He had to keep them from going at each other's throats, and from going at his.

Naruto arrived at Samui's apartment and knocked on the door politely. It was soon unlocked and opened, Yugito poking her head out. "Come on in Naruto-san."

"Thank you Yugito-san." Naruto said, stepping over the threshold. "Is Samui-chan ready?" he asked her.

Yugito shook her head. "Just another few moments Naruto-san, she's just putting the finishing touches on."

Naruto nodded and he waited patiently, turning to look at the things Samui had about her room.

"Just so you know, if you break either of their hearts, you're a dead man." Yugito said politely as she sat in a comfy looking chair.

Naruto turned to regard Yugito. "Then I suppose I best not break their hearts, huh?" he asked his fellow Jinchūriki.

Yugito chuckled softly. "Yeah, you best not break their hearts."

Naruto turned as he heard a door open and came face to face with Samui. Naruto's tongue felt heavy and thick. He didn't even attempt to get words out.

Samui's hair remained the same, when it was short it was impossible to do anything with it really. She had put on some light red lipstick, just dark enough for it to be noticeable, but not enough that it stood out with her paler skin. She had forgone her usual Jonin attire for something definitely more appealing.

She stood in a light blue dress that hugged along her breasts, her sides and her waist. At the waist, it stopped being so form fitting and flared out to a relaxed skirt that swished as she walked and came to just above her knees. She completed the outfit, surprisingly, with a pair of heeled leather boots that came up to just below her knees. The sharp click of the three inch heels on the hardwood floor got Naruto to continue looking her over.

He whistled softly when he started having his brain working. "You look really good Samui-chan." He told her in an appreciative manner.

"Thank you Naruto-kun." She said as she walked over. "You look rather cool yourself." Samui's face felt heated and the blonde woman was trying desperately not to blush. She was standing before one of her few friends, about to go on a date. It was Yugito that had gotten her the clothes, wanting her to stick out and for her beauty to be more known.

Especially considering that Naruto was going to have to be beating men back with sticks for having both Mabui and herself.

"Are the flowers for me?" she asked glancing to his hand a moment. She saw his eyes flick down to the bouquet and quickly he recovered from checking her out. With Naruto, she felt womanly and not like a piece of meat or a prize for men to try and win.

Naruto remembered the flowers at the mention of them. "These are." He said and removed one of the bouquets, offering it to her. It was a dozen teal irises. The flowers grew only in Uzu, and it had taken Naruto quite some time to get them to grow in his small rooftop garden. There were among that first batch he had managed to get to grow.

They had beautiful teal petals with an inside that was a nice vibrant pink. Naruto plucked out the thirteenth of the bouquet as she took it and he stepped forward as she inhaled the gentle scent of the irises. He placed the flower behind her ear, making her cheeks take on a faint dusting of red.

Naruto turned and offered her his left arm. "Shall we go Samui-chan and pick up our girlfriend?" he asked her. Just as he had two girlfriends, Samui and Mabui both had a boyfriend and girlfriend. It was all about equality in the relationship, and if Naruto was dating them both, then they were dating each other as well.

Samui put the flowers on the counter and moved over to Naruto, slipping her arm around his offered left arm. "Let's." she whispered softly.

Naruto led Samui out of the apartment and led her slowly towards Mabui's house. He didn't move at a rushed pace, but he didn't move at a slow pace. The two blondes ignored everyone around them, instead choosing to whisper to each other softly. They just talked about everything they could possibly think of and when they got with Mabui, the same would happen.

When they got to Mabui's apartment, Naruto knocked on the door. He was surprised to see C open the door. "C-san, I thought this was Mabui-chan's apartment." Naruto said.

C shrugged his shoulders. "It is, I'm just here to answer the door tonight Naruto-san. Come on in, she's putting the finishing touches on."

Naruto walked in with Samui and relinquished the blonde woman's arm so that he could learn his surroundings once more like he had done at Samui's apartment.

Mabui had heard C entered the door and sighed softly to settle her nerves. She rubbed her arms a little bit before she checked herself in the mirror one last time. She had asked for Yugito's help in getting dressed. The Jinchūriki woman had more dates than Mabui had, so she would likely know more about what would make an impression on a man.

Her silver hair was taken from its usual bun and brushed out into its usually wavy self. She chose a dark burgundy color lipstick that went well with her skin tone. She chose a dark green dress with slightly lighter shades striped through the dress that conformed its way along her body and was completely strapless. Depending on how the light hit the dress, her eyes would either appear as a darker shade of green or a lighter shade, offering a wonderful illusion. She inhaled slowly and exhaled once more as she ran her palms along the sides. The skirt of the dress ended at just above her knees. She wore a pair of three inch heels with long straps that came up along her calves. She had even gone with a pair of thigh highs with the outfit.

She felt more womanly than she had felt in a very long, long time.

And she was so very nervous.

She turned and went to her door, breathing slowly again as she tried to find her calm. She soon stepped through and was hit with a hefty blend of scents. One, she immediately associated with Naruto. It was a sort of spice blend, mixed with his natural scent and it sent a shiver down her spine. She had woken too many times from a dream of having smelling that scent.

The second scent, she associated with Samui. It was a vanilla mixed with lavender scent. Oddly enough, it sent a shiver down her spine as well and only strict control kept her toes from curling inside her open toed heels.

Samui bit her lip at the sight of Mabui exiting her room. Samui had opted for a traditional dress that had the straps so she wouldn't have to worry about trying to find a strapless bra. Mabui had gone for the strapless dress and it looked amazing on her.

A scent hit her, the scent of Mabui that sent a shiver up her spine. Combined with the spicy scent Naruto had that she had been enjoying on the short trip over there, it caused Samui's toes to curl inside of her boots. It smelled like a mix of jasmine and something sweeter, something that took the harshness from the jasmine. Whatever it was, Samui approved for the dark skinned female.

Samui blushed a bit as she realized she was staring at Mabui. And with C there, too!

Naruto kept the chuckle from trickling out of his throat as he saw Samui checking out Mabui. He checked out his darker toned girlfriend a bit more himself and he had to say, he definitely approved. Unlike with Samui, he managed to keep himself from tripping over his tongue and walked forward to Mabui.

"I got you these Mabui-chan." He told her as he offered up the dark blue irises. They didn't have the luster of the teal irises that he had given Samui-chan, but the dark blue with yellow fit better for Mabui in his opinion. He took the thirteen from the bouquet of irises and placed it behind Mabui's right ear, making her cheeks turn darker with a slight blush.

Naruto then led both girls from the apartment and out towards the main streets. He offered Samui his left arm and Mabui his right arm and walked with them on either arm. He really, really tried hard not to think about how good their large soft breasts felt against his arms.

He enjoyed the gentle conversation between the three of them, completely ignoring everyone else on the street so long as they didn't bring any problems their way. He was surprised at the two personally; they flirted with one another and him of course. It was almost hesitant between the two of them, like they still weren't entirely sure on the whole, girlfriend situation.

He didn't blame them that one either.

He took them to a slightly upper end sushi restaurant that he had managed to get good reviews about. They wouldn't make a fuss about him having two girlfriends and they'd treat him like just another customer.

The fact he had already pre-arranged for a private booth was also a reason he took them there.

Thankfully, despite some teasing, flirting, and some petting through their clothes, the date was uneventful and very much successful. He and Samui led Mabui back to her apartment first as hers was closer and C didn't live with her like Yugito did for Samui.

As the trio got to Mabui's apartment, she unlocked it and turned to regard the two. She bit her lip for a moment before she blushed softly. "Would you two like to come in?" she asked, being a little bold.

"Sure." Samui said after a moment's thought, nodding as she moved to pass into the apartment.

Naruto inclined his head in a slow nod. He then walked in following Mabui. He watched the dark skinned beauty take the flowers from the counter and find a vase to put them into.

Samui went over to Mabui and Naruto couldn't make out what the two were whispering amongst each other. He felt as though he should find out, but their voices weren't getting raised or anything so he simply waited.

"Naruto-kun," Samui said after a moment. "Mabui-chan is wondering if we'd like to spend the night here with her. I would like to I think." The blonde woman said. "It would give me a night away from Yugito for a time."

Now Naruto was having a bit of difficulty, his tongue felt full and heavy. He didn't trust his voice so he nodded once more. He got control of himself and went over to Mabui. "Are you sure?" he asked her, brushing her cheek softly with his hand.

Mabui slid her hands around his neck and leaned up, kissing him softly. Naruto could taste her lipstick as well as feel her tongue sweep along his lower lip. He opened his mouth and he brushed his tongue along hers, drawing her closer into the kiss, and his hand stroking along her back.

Mabui drew back first, licking her lips from having tasted the blonde. He tasted as good as she had anticipated. She stepped back and glanced to Samui. "Don't think I forgot about you." She said and drew the other blonde into a kiss.

Samui's eyes widened for a moment before they closed and she wrapped her arms around Mabui's waist as they kissed. Her tongue brushed over Mabui's lower lip, and she felt the dark skinned woman's tongue slide against her tongue. She wasn't sure if she was more surprised or if Naruto was more surprised.

Naruto was completely taken aback by Mabui kissing Samui. That had been most unexpected. Worse yet, the two were doing it in front of him and were having a really heated kiss. He briefly wondered if he should break it up, but then he vehemently stomped that notion down.

He'd have to kick his own ass.

Slowly the two girls parted, both blushing lightly as they looked to the other. Naruto almost felt like a third wheel until both girls turned his way and blushed deeper. Samui moved over and kissed him, pressing against his body. He had no problem kissing her in return and stroking her spine like he had done with Mabui. He felt Samui arch into him as his tongue slid against hers.

Naruto drew back after a moment and then politely got a paper towel to wipe the lipstick from his mouth. He even offered some to both girls who blushed a bit and wiped their mouths.

"This way." Mabui told the two as she turned and headed for her bedroom. She was glad her bed would be big enough for all three to sleep on it comfortably. She wasn't disappointed when the two followed her. Samui's heels clicked a bit on the floors and Naruto was almost like a ghost, but she could see he stepped through her doorway in her mirror.

Naruto regarded everything in Mabui's room, debating something for a moment. It almost pained him to look at the bed, knowing the words that would be coming out of his mouth. "I'll be out in the living room if you two need anything tonight." He then felt both Mabui and Samui's eyes on him and he squirmed a little bit.

Did he say something wrong? Had he just ruined the entire night? Maybe he was supposed to go home?

Samui was about to say something when Mabui beat her to it. "Naruto-kun, we both want you in here tonight with us, on the bed and there is nothing you're allowed to do to stop that from happening."

Naruto blinked at Mabui's words. He then saw Samui give him a nod and he took a deep breath. "Alright," he said softly.

Now what the hell was he supposed to sleep in? The pants he wore weren't exactly comfortable and that's all he usually slept in when he was at home was a pair of pants.

He supposed Mabui would have an extra t-shirt she could loan Samui to sleep in, but he was broader of shoulders than the two girls. Not to mention sleeping in a shirt always bothered him, it always rode up.

His thoughts were derailed when he saw Mabui turn her back to him and reach up to unzip the dress. She then began to push it down, exposing the bodice that she had worn under that to help keep her breasts supported without having to wear a strapless bra. "Naruto-kun, could you help me with the laces?" she asked.

Samui glanced to Mabui wanting to almost glare at her for her well played ploy for attention. She saw the way Naruto's eyes clouded with lust. He strode over to their dark-skinned girlfriend and began to unlace the bodice. His arms had a slight tremble as he did so, his fingers brushing over Mabui's undoubtedly smooth skin. '_Well played Mabui.'_ She thought to herself.

Naruto got to the last of the ties and felt the entire piece relax with Mabui letting out a breath of relief. He turned to look at Samui who was having difficulty with the zipper of her dress. He made his way over and took it in one hand. "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you." He whispered in her ear as he drew it down, exposing the black lace bra. He reached up and unhooked the hooks at the back of the bra, making it loose.

Naruto stepped back so that he had both Mabui and Samui in his field of vision. Mabui struggled slightly with her dress, drawing it over her widened hips. Soon though, her body was exposed and he could see the swell of her breast, but it was the shapely rear that caught his attention. She wore a dark green set of garters that led to the thigh highs with dark green silk panties. Naruto felt really uncomfortable in his pants at the moment.

Samui didn't help much as her dress fell down her body. Again, he could see the swell of her breasts as well, and from there it led down to a pair of black, lacy boy shorts clinging to her shapely rear and upper thighs. With the knee high boots, it was definitely a sight that was quite arousing to Naruto.

Mabui moved to sit on her bed, drawing Naruto's attention. She had already removed the garters and hung them up, leaving her in the panties, the stockings, and the heels. "Naruto-kun, would you mind helping me out?" she asked.

Naruto moved over slowly, his eyes roaming over Mabui's body. In the lighting, he could see things that he usually couldn't in the dimmer lights of his massage parlor. For one, he could see the scars that marked her body as a Shinobi, as well as the toned muscles along her legs and abdomen. His mouth watered at the darker nipples with the rich dark chocolate colored areola. It was taking quite a bit of restraint on his part.

His knelt down in front of her and began to unstrap the heels from her legs. He took his time with it and rubbed the ball and heel of her feet before he set them down. He then reached up and began to draw off the thigh highs. He kissed his way down along each thigh as he exposed her smooth legs.

Naruto watched as Samui moved over and sat beside Mabui. "Would you mind?" the other blonde asked.

Naruto shook his head as he slowly unzipped Samui's boots. He drew them off of her body with the same care that he had taken with Mabui. He kissed at Samui's toned legs as well, nibbling on a particular scar that stood out.

A small smile was brought to his face at the sight of the plain socks that he also removed from Samui's feet before he rubbed the balls and heels of her feet.

Naruto stood up and regarded Samui, seeing the deeper scars that she had. It was obvious who was out doing more missions, but that didn't mean Mabui was unwilling to perform the necessary training to be a splendid Shinobi. She had light pink nipples with a touch deeper shade for the areola.

Naruto also felt really overdressed.

Mabui stood up and moved around behind him while Samui slid to her knees in front of him. Naruto's spine went ridged until Mabui's hands moved around him to the buttons of his shirt. Her fingers were slow as they undid his shirt and slowly helped him out of it. He felt it slide from his shoulders and her breasts brushed up against his back. Her lips pressed against his shoulder, gentle kisses trailing over both shoulders.

Samui undid his boots and helped them out of them as well as his own plain black socks. His belt and pants were soon dropped to the ground and he stepped away from them. Samui kissed up along his stomach and chest as she moved to stand, her breasts brushing along his body.

Naruto almost felt a little self-conscious around the two. His body wasn't scarred in the normal way; instead he had chemical burn scars along his body, besides from the fact that he had scars marring his body from the glass. Even after all the years since it happened, he was still scarred up.

"Let's get some sleep." Mabui said and led him onto the bed. Samui soon joined him, pressing up against one side while Mabui had the other. He wondered if this was what it felt like to be desired, to be loved. He honestly didn't know. He had no mother or father figure in his life to be able to tell him and his Sensei had certainly never been in a situation like this.

Naruto closed his eyes, holding his two beautiful girlfriends. It didn't matter what it was, but for once he felt like he could trust someone while he slept.

(_Scene Break)_

Naruto felt like his feet were lead as he walked his way up towards A's office. He knew he was about to ask something big of the Raikage and he doubted that such a conversation was going to go perfectly the way that Naruto wanted it to go.

He wished he had made the meeting for the night after with Mabui and Samui, then he would have been in a really good mood to handle A and his antics.

Alas, it had been almost two weeks since that very nice night and his students were coming along nicely. He needed to get A to sign off not only on him going to Konoha for the Chunin Exams with his students, but to also taking Bee with him, which was going to be the harder thing to handle.

Naruto waved to Mabui as he went towards A's office and opened the door to see the big man himself doing paperwork like all Kage were stuck doing. Admittedly, Naruto wasn't sure how bad it got but it looked to be at least a little amount of paperwork. "A Ji-san." Naruto said, knowing it irritated A, which was why he did it.

A's eye twitched before he looked up. "What can I do for you Naruto?" he asked as he put his pen down.

Naruto sat down in a chair across from A and sighed as he realized there was no easy way to do this other than to come out with it bluntly. A would at least respect Naruto's bluntness. "I want to take my team with me to Konoha's Chunin Exams and I want to take Bee with."

A's head jerked back like he had been smacked. "Denied." He said simply. He was defensive when it came to Bee leaving and that would make it problematic. "He's Kumo's shield, he can't just leave."

"Oh come on!" Naruto said. "You'll still be here most of the time. You don't need Bee here every single day, of every single week, of every single month, of every single year. When's the last time he got out of Kumo?" Naruto asked. "Without escaping and risking your wrath?" he amended.

"I'm not letting you take Bee with you Naruto. I won't risk my brother." A said.

"You're insulting all the training he went through A." Naruto said sharply. "How much blood, sweat, and tears has Bee shed to get as strong as he has? How many times has his best not cut it for your father?" Naruto asked. "By not trusting him to be able to handle himself, you're making it seem like you don't trust him."

"That's not true!" A said, his voice rising as Naruto poked at feelings that had been eating at him all his tenure as Raikage. "Bee can handle himself, I know it, you know, he knows it."

"Then what is it?" Naruto asked. "Do you not trust Kumo's strength? Do you not trust all your Shinobi to hold down the fort while a hundred or so of us go to some exams for three months?" Naruto asked.

A grit his teeth before he sighed and slumped his shoulders. "You're a prick you know that?" he asked the blonde. "Why do you want to go to Konoha? Why do you want to take Bee? Why not his team? Why not Yugito?"

Naruto sighed. "Okay you know I've killed a lot of people in Konoha right? I need my trophies back." Naruto said, emphasizing the need. "It's this constant scratching on my skull that I don't have those trophies and the only place there is to get them is Konoha. It's like a thousand ants running around on my brain because I do not have my trophies." Naruto said, his sociopathic tendencies showing up as he clutched at his hair. Most days he had it under better control, but since he started his trophy room which was lacking his favorites… Naruto was having problems and none of the kills felt good enough anymore. Not so long as he didn't have those trophies.

"And what of your team? If you're just using them, it wouldn't explain why you're pushing them so hard." A said as he regarded the blonde sitting in front of him. He might allow the blonde to go to Konoha for the upcoming Chunin Exams.

Naruto looked out the window. "Alright, alright. I admit I'm a little attached to the brats. I don't want them to get killed in the exams and I actually want to see them promoted. Especially Omari, his situation is a lot like my own." He said.

"Now why do you want to take Bee with you? You had to know my reasons coming into this meeting on denying you the chance to take my brother." A said, curious.

Naruto looked to A and then nodded. "Bee is essentially an escort, a chaperone, and a body guard all in one. The Hyuuga clan will likely want my head on a fucking platter, so Bee will protect me from Konoha forces. While at the same time, he'll also keep me from scratching that itch while I'm in Konoha. Last thing we need is for Kumo to be banned from the next run of Chunin Exams due to an international incident." Naruto shrugged a bit. "He's got a name for himself and he's a badass, don't let him know that last bit though, and Konoha will think twice about attacking me if Bee is nearby, a known Jinchūriki that has mastery over his Biju. Even with the likes of Itachi Uchiha there, there's too much of a high profile. I mean, assaulting the Raikage's brother's charge? Konoha won't do that. They can fight, sure, but they like peace too much."

A nodded slowly and began to stroke his chin. The blonde haired brat had a point. His brother would be an excellent deterrent for Konoha. He didn't need his T&I specialist killed off for his crimes. A knew of the blonde's kill on sight status for Konoha Shinobi, in fact it had increased even more.

Granted the blonde's bounty to be returned alive was even higher than most S-ranked missing Nin's heads. Naruto was really wanted badly to be captured by Konoha.

"I want Uzu." A said suddenly. "If Bee goes with you, Uzu becomes a protectorate of Kumo."

"Excuse you?" Naruto asked, his spine going ramrod straight as fury gripped at him. He had to remind himself that as good as he had gotten, A was still leagues ahead of him.

A held his hands up, trying to placate the blonde. He didn't want the blonde to leave the office angry and to do something stupid that he would regret. "Allow me to explain, you owe me that much." He said. He got a stiff nod from the blonde and so A put his hands on his desk, clasped together. "Kumo teamed up with Iwa and Kiri to take down Uzu for one reason and one reason alone. While I admit the stupidity behind the reason, it wouldn't have been necessary had Uzu been willing to trade with us in the first place. It wasn't fear that motivated us like the other villages, but greed.

"Keep your clan secrets, I don't want them. Clan summons, Jutsu, sealing techniques, books, I don't care for them. I don't want them. Five percent of the treasury is all I'm asking for at first. Kumo will help Uzu come back to be a civilian village, a protectorate under Kumo." he told the blonde. "We'll have Kumo Shinobi stationed there, those that want to become Kumo Shinobi may. We'll handle any invasion that may occur to Uzu, you'd be head of the ruling family and we'll have the heir to the name of Uzumaki, the one that will be clan head next, be trained as a Shinobi."

"And if they have no desire to become Shinobi?" Naruto asked his voice still sharp. They were talking about his clan's homeland. "And what of Konoha?"

"Naruto, you're the last known Uzumaki Male, you technically own all of Uzu to do with as you please. You could sink it for all anyone would care. Konoha can't do shit." A said. He grabbed a cigar and put it in his mouth, lighting it with a match. "I only require the heir to the Head of the Clan to become a Shinobi. But I would like it if people were blacksmiths, seal masters, things that Uzu would benefit from, things that could make Kumo benefit from. Say we give Kumo five percent of Uzu's treasury every ten years. We could have people living there, making money in five. Tax your people as you see fit; you're technically the ruler of Uzu.

"Now, here's why I want Uzu. The whirlpools surrounding Uzu kick up a lot of stuff at the bottom of the ocean, mostly precious minerals and metals. Things wash ashore and create large deposits of even that expensive chakra conductive metal. Kumo gets say… six mines for the metals all surrounding Uzu." A said. "We could increase the quality of Kumo's weaponry without going through more expensive merchants."

Naruto scratched his chin a bit. Some of his anger had deflated at what A was suggesting and he was actually thinking with a critical mind. "Four mines." Naruto said simply. "And a Minimum of Five hundred Shinobi stationed there with at least one hundred of them being ANBU certified." Since ANBU drafted from all ranks, rarely from Genin however, they tended to certify who they drafted. While wearing the mask, they were considered at a solid Jonin level, even the Chunin. They had the skills to back it up and they weren't some of the poseur Jonin Naruto had encountered.

A let out a sharp whistle at the blonde's demands. It was rather steep, but it was understandable. They were talking about Uzu's protection forces. "Uzu will have to have a standing army then, a Samurai nation like Iron but a protectorate under Kumo."

Naruto nodded his head slowly. "And when we want to pull away?" he asked. He knew his people would eventually want to sever ties with Kumo and be a nation onto themself once more.

A scratched his chin. And there was the kicker. "I'll set up a clause that will allow Uzu to pull away from Kumo for a flat fee, it won't be cheap either." A did have to think about Kumo's future after all. "We'll also keep ties with Uzu, mostly business transaction. Uzu will stay out of Shinobi affairs that Kumo are involved with to retain some neutrality like Iron."

Naruto nodded again, scratching the back of his neck. On one hand, he was gambling on the future of his people, on his people's ancestral land. On the other, he'd have his bodyguard to Konoha. Naruto ran his hand through his hair, really thinking about it. "I need some time to think on it and any other possible negotiations. Draw up a contract though." Naruto said finally and stood up.

He headed out, needing to get a massage. His shoulders were bothering him with all the stress of the situation.

(_Scene Break)_

Naruto regarded the shop right across from his while leaning on the front counter. A smoke shop in Kumo really wasn't that big of a deal. It was the man running it that had Naruto's attention. Naruto felt like he knew the man from somewhere, but that couldn't be possible.

Naruto ran a hand through his hair, trying desperately to figure out who the hell it could be. It was none of the people he killed, and it wasn't his Sensei. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the man, trying to figure it out.

"Gah! Come on damn it!" It was on the tip of his tongue. Who did he know that smoked? He turned to regard the face once more, narrowing his eyes as the man put a cigarette in his mouth. Naruto knew that brand, but the face was off…

Naruto imagined the man with a beard and sucked his breath in between his teeth. He knew it had to be a matter of time before Konoha sent someone after him and it was unsurprising who they sent after him. Why shouldn't it be after all? He had spent a lot of time over at the Sarutobi compound after he got hurt originally.

Naruto tucked his hands into his pockets and drew out the Kumo headband. He tied it around his arm and headed over towards the smoke shop, shaking his head as he tucked his hands into his pockets once more. Damn, he just couldn't catch a break with Konoha, not a single fucking break to be had.

He entered the smoke shop and caught eyes with his target. "All Civilians and Shinobi below Tokubetsu Rank are to leave the premises immediately!" Naruto called out. The civilians and Shinobi looked over at him, before their eyes went to the headband and soon they were shuffling out, except for Naruto's target.

When everyone finally left, Naruto glanced to the man and shook his head a little bit. "Good to see you again Asuma." Naruto said, gathering a few things. He got one of those big fat cigars, a book of matches and a cigar cutter.

"I can't exactly say the same to you Naruto. You sort of betrayed everything that my father taught you." Asuma said still smoking his cigarette. "That'll be 200 Ryo." He said.

Naruto handed Asuma the notes and cut off a bit of the cigar, like he needed to. He put it into his mouth and light up a match, soon igniting the end of the cigar. Naruto took a heavy puff, letting the smoke fill his lungs. "Good stuff, you roll it yourself?" he asked.

Asuma nodded softly. "Some of Konoha's finest tobacco." He said as he regarded the blonde.

Naruto looked to Asuma, rolling the cigar in his mouth a little bit, inhaling a bit more. "Take the wig off Asuma, and what happened to your beard?"

Asuma removed the wig, running a hand through his actual hair. "Hokage-sama didn't want me to look anything like myself, and the most distinguishable feature is the beard. It had to go." He said as he kept puffing on the cigarette.

Naruto regarded Asuma, a Jonin a decade and a half his senior, he really didn't want to fight the man. He couldn't exactly let him go, but Naruto didn't want to fight him either. Despite Naruto's actions ten years ago, he had a good relationship with the Sarutobi clan.

"I'm a wind element." Naruto said suddenly, getting Asuma to raise an eyebrow. "Primary is wind, secondary is water." Naruto shifted a bit under Asuma's gaze. Despite his actions ten years ago, Naruto still felt like that little kid that considered Asuma his cool uncle and was constantly working to gain his praise.

Asuma nodded softly, trying to determine how to handle the situation. Naruto was dangerous, his mind extremely sharp. And despite that, Asuma knew this was essentially a suicide mission. His boy was probably going to grow up without a father. "Where are you at with your wind manipulation?" he asked

Naruto shrugged. "I can almost cut a waterfall in half single handedly." He said. "It's slow going." Naruto inhaled on his cigar and used the ashtray that Asuma was using to ash his cigar.

Asuma nodded. "Not surprising to tell you the truth. How is your Kyuubi training going?" he asked, mildly curious. Kumo had a perfect weaponized Jinchūriki; they could teach Naruto how to use his Biju.

"I'm not." Naruto said. He wasn't going to lie and boast about his abilities, Asuma would see right through it. "I haven't ever made contact with Kyuubi, and I'd like to keep it that way to the day I die." He said.

Asuma sighed. "I don't suppose you'd just be willing to come back to Konoha with me, would you Naruto?"

"Asuma, Tsunade will put me in the ground. Either back in a tiny ass concrete cell, or in a pine box." Naruto said bluntly. "Neither are exactly good options for me. Not to mention I got people that care about me now. Two girlfriends, an adoptive son, a team of my own. I can't just leave all that behind."

Asuma sighed again, exhaling smoke. "And I can't exactly go back a failure either Naruto. I got my own family to think about, wife and a son." He said as he put out his cigarette and started a second one.

Naruto rubbed his face. Had it been anyone but Asuma, he'd have accepted the challenge and fought them until his heart stopped beating. Unfortunately, it was Asuma he was dealing with and he couldn't just go toe to toe with the man. It'd be like killing a part of himself oddly enough.

Damn, his girls were making him softer.

Naruto looked to Asuma. "Go back to Konoha Asuma. Tell Tsunade I'm coming to Konoha for the Chunin Exams. I'll fight one individual, anyone she wants, during the finals. We'll make it an exhibition match for the clients. I win, I keep my head. Konoha doesn't come after me anymore, no more kill on sight orders. I lose, well… I lose my head. Can't exactly take much more from me." He said.

Asuma rubbed his face, wishing he had his beard to rub on. That had sort of been a comfort for him. "I'm not sure Hokage-sama will sign off on it." He said. Truth be told, he didn't want to exactly fight Naruto either.

"Make her sign off on the deal Asuma. I really don't want to have to fight you here and now and I don't want to kill you. Kono and I were somewhat close before I was thrown in jail. It would kill something inside of him if he were to find out that I had a hand in your death." Naruto said.

"And Kono will try to fight you himself if he gets the chance." Asuma said. "Finding out that you weren't who you said you were sort of broke something inside of him." The older Jonin pointed out.

Naruto hung his head slightly as he inhaled on his cigar. "Look, I didn't lie to you guys. I'm still that person I was. I became a sociopath due to my very first Sensei. But aside from that, I'm still that guy the Sarutobi clan came to know."

Asuma shook his head. "That's not true Naruto. Being a sociopath changes things. How many people did you kill? How is that the Will of Fire?" he asked.

"How was beating on a child the Will of Fire?" Naruto countered.

"And what about Shikaku? Shikamaru? Hinata? Hanabi? Neji?" Asuma countered back.

Naruto gripped his fists tight, breaking the cigar. "Shikaku was getting too close. I couldn't risk being found out, not until everyone paid for what they did to me. Shikamaru got too close as well. I freed Hinata from that Hellish existence she had. I freed Hanabi from suffering Hinata's life and I killed Neji because he was someone that was to protect Hinata and Hanabi and he only made their lives Hell. You've never been inside the Hyuuga compound Asuma, I have!" Naruto said, that itch of his dragging up as he recalled the events surrounding the various murders he made.

"Is that what it was about?" Asuma asked. "Some sort of perverse form of justice? You should have told me, or my father, hell any Shinobi would have helped you."

"It's only perverse because you think the 'just' way would have worked!" Naruto said loudly, shaking as he tried to keep from lashing out at Asuma. "But every complaint I brought up got brushed under the table. People kept saying that I was just lonely, just seeking attention!" Naruto's palm was bleeding from his nails digging into it too deeply.

"I tried, for so long to keep the urges in check. But then they decided to have another of their 'fox hunts'." Naruto said with a snarl. "I tried to bury what my very first Sensei had beaten into my skull, over and over again. I tried to keep it hidden and be something of a normal child. Yet every time I walked the streets, I got these glares, people whispering behind my back. At the park children were pulled away from me by their parents. I had a crushing existence that was lonely. By the time I started playing at the Sarutobi Compound, it was too late for me Asuma." Naruto was breathing heavily. "I was too far gone, too addicted and the wrong doers hadn't been fully punished yet."

Asuma regarded the blonde for a moment before he got Naruto another cigar. "Have it, free of charge." He said and shook his head. "I'll be out of Kumo in a week Naruto, on my way back to Konoha. I don't know how far into the darkness you've been plunged, but I don't think Tsunade would mind giving you a mercy killing. And so you know, I will be one of the ones volunteering to fight you."

Naruto accepted the cigar and gathered the cutter and the matches. "I pray it doesn't come to that Asuma." Naruto said, his eyes showing his deadened emotions from the way the conversation had turned. "Because you may feel righteous now, standing on your soap box, but when you kill me, you'll understand the madness I've been drowned in." Naruto turned on his heel and walked out of the smoke shop.

He couldn't stop shaking.

End

A/N: And here we go, chapter four of Stew Maker. Asuma isn't as dead as most would predict!

The feels of this chapter really had me going up and down.

So, this is my Christmas present to y'all. I celebrate Christmas, so that's the sort of present I'm giving. But I will wish everyone a Happy Holidays to cover everyone.

HBW, signing out.


End file.
